The future is shaped by the decisions we make every moment of every day.
Basically, the decisions you make NOW, will determine the quality of your future experiences.

There are many who choose not to make decisions, who choose to live life on the reaction side of life and be at the mercy of the effects of their lives.

Then there are those who choose to take action, be the cause of their future and the quality with which they choose to live.  Those who make the decisions and are in a position of power in their lives… THAT is what true leadership is:

Someone who chooses to make decisions and have the discipline to see those decisions through to the end.

Now, before we continue, I want to make it clear to everyone that each and every one of us is a leader, because each and every one of us makes at least 3 decisions at every given moment of our lives:

1. What do I focus on?
2. What does it mean to me?
3. What should I do?

So if leaders make decisions, and every one of us makes at least 3 decisions about every moment of our lives, then surely every one is a leader in their own right, right?

However, there is a major difference between being a leader and being a GOOD leader.

Only GOOD leaders attract followers who value their leader’s decisions.

So for someone to be a good leader, they need to be able to ADD VALUE to other’s lives.  Once you can make the decisions that will add value to other’s lives and you have the determination to see those decisions through, then you are well on your way to becoming a good leader.

So our definition of a leader needs to be updated to:

Someone who chooses to make decisions to add value to the lives of others and have the discipline to see those decisions through to the end.

Now the question arises: “How do I add value to the lives of others?”

Well, the easiest way to add value is to first of all find a problem and then find a solution to that problem. Simple as that.

Look at any of the great leaders of history – they realized certain problems that the people were facing, they calculated a solution for those problems and they had the discipline to see the solutions through until the problems had been solved.

So how did those great leaders manage to solve the problems the people were facing?
They looked at what resources were available and they maximized those resources to aid them in accomplishing the goals they set out to achieve and solve the problems that were plaguing the people.

So a good leader can therefore:

1. Make decisions and stick with them
2. Solve problems
3. Maximize resources

Strategies Of A Leader

I’m sure most of us have played a computer game with a child.

Even with your advantage of experience in life and increased intellect over the child, somehow they still managed to beat you in the game, didn’t they?

WHY?

• They weren’t smarter than you.
• They weren’t necessarily faster than you.
• They didn’t have the resources you do.
• They definitely weren’t stronger than you.

So how did they beat you?

They had the gift of knowing what was going to happen – foresight.

Chances are that, that child had been playing the game many times before you sat down to play against them.  So technically they had the unfair advantage of knowing what was going to happen before it happened and thus knew what to do before it needed to be done.

Whereas you were attempting to play the game as it was happening, and in that way you were “behind” with what needed to be done.

In a sense, that child literally changed the rules of the game.

My point with this is that, as a good leader you need to always know where you are leading your followers.  You need to have the gift of foresight to know what lies around the next bend to assure that you are leading your followers to safety and greater heights.  When you do this, you will create trust with your followers and they will follow you anywhere, because they trust you.

As a leader you need to realize that the most powerful constraint in your life is YOU.

No-one else can stand in your way but you.  If there is a problem that you are facing, then as a leader you need to find a solution to that problem and come up with effective solutions to that problem, because chances are, you are not the only one that are facing that problem.

So when you decide to solve the problem and GO FIRST and show others how to solve the same problem in their own lives, you will become a leader and build trust with your followers.