Does everyone need leadership qualities?

Lakshmi Kothaneth -

lakshmiobserver@gmail.com -

Are we born leaders or are we made leaders? Both are possible. There are inventors who came from the toughest of environments and billionaires who believed in their dreams and made it. There are others who had the best support systems.

If ever in doubt, there are paths to follow and learn from. This trend is visible in a number of readers who invest in self-development books, biographies and autobiographies. There are a whole lot of lessons we can learn from others’ life experiences.

Maybe we can avoid mistakes they have made, but some experts say it is okay to make mistakes. It is okay as long as you one day get up and hit the right note. But every scientist knows how many times she or he tried until they found the right solution. There is one point to note: they were focused.

Staying focused needs discipline and patience because it is so easy to give up. It also requires one to get off the comfort zone.

At present, 40 Director Generals from government organisations are undergoing a leadership course – an initiative by the Ministry of Civil Service. There are challenges to solve together and ways to think of implementing what they are learning and that can only be achieved through cooperation from the others.

What is the best way to communicate and take the people in the direction the leader wants to take the organisation?

As a matter of fact, when a person is going through changes, it can have a ripple effect if the people around him are sportive enough to accept and try new methodologies. However, changes are not taken very well. Why is that?

When we ponder over it, one realises it is because of the insecurities. Everyone carries their own emotional baggage.

Speaking to a teacher recently, a realisation dawned on me. She said, “These days, teachers need better EQ than IQ. Students can be tough too. That is when emotional intelligence helps.”

Teachers too need leadership qualities, but they are also vulnerable. They are in the art of molding young minds, but they have feelings too.

Emotions can be expressed in words and actions. How it is expressed requires a lot of thought, but then would we be complicating matters?

Most of the issues the world faces today come from emotions — from personal problems such as stress factors, leading to health issues to violence, that is seen in conflicts between nations and on school campuses.

For long, emotions were pushed aside as an element of weakness. The truth is everyone has emotions. And emotions do influence decisions. It is emotion that converts an idea into action because it is emotion that fuels passion. It is passion that leads people to become innovators and entrepreneurs.

Why should anyone take a side seat and just watch the world pass by? Let the leaders achieve and contribute to society and then sit on the side seat just to watch and take a break. After all, it is during these breaks that creativity flows through the mind.

Let the leaders be able to note sparks of leadership qualities in each member of the team and nurture it to grow to fulfil the dream of a nation.

Watching the team Youthinkers rehearse for their play ‘Hot Potato’ shows the importance of leadership qualities in art when one of the actors said, “Yes, I am all set for the show. I want to be on stage and shine.” (You can watch the video @omanobserver facebook page and www.omanobserver.om)

That is the enthusiasm which is hard not to get influenced by.

Everyone needs leadership qualities and one of them has to be EQ.