10 Aug Leadership Equity – the force of radical commitment
To successfully lead anything significant–a family, an organization, or even a country–requires many things, but the one critical component is wholehearted commitment to the end goals of the endeavour. This commitment level establishes the the leader’s emotional equity and actually draws the best out of those who follow. Radical commitment to a cause is magnetic. It is the costly, distilled elixir of all leadership success.
As Brian Tracy recently stated while speaking at the Self-Publishing Summit,
“You must do everything with all your heart. This will not always guarantee success; but if you do it with less than all your heart, it will guarantee failure.”
The leader’s whole-hearted commitment to his marriage, to his family, and to the sphere of his responsibilities and influence means he is ALL IN!
The leader counted the cost already; in heart and mind the price is paid already. Unexpected pitfalls? Turbulent waters? Troubling Forecasts? No matter: the greatness of the enterprise compels the leader to drive forward through the fear and doubt with the force of whole-hearted, unwavering, and radical commitment.
All leaders know this radicalization of leadership can only happen through adversity and testing. Yes, personal failures, inadequacies, incompetencies, and immaturity may lead us to assume we are all hopeless in our pursuit of this great quality. Yet, just as the mythical phoenix rises from the fiery ashes of its own death, a leader’s own failures may propel him to reach out and discover the source of the very thing he can not find within himself.
There are a myriad of core competencies, knowledge, and skills that the leader must gain; but without whole-hearted commitment, none of them matter.