The Art of Influence and Inspiration
Unleash Your Inner Leader by Mastering the Art of Influence and Inspiration
What are the core values that define Exceptional Leaders?
An authentic leader builds trust, fosters collaboration, and inspires the team to reach new heights.
“The position of leadership has not been granted by history to certain individuals to use or abuse as they see fit. Like all forms of leadership, it gives specific responsibilities to its holder.” – Nelson Mandela
“A leader is first and foremost a servant of his people; he is the voice of his people.” – Albert Luthuli
Self-esteem is always reflected in how we love others.
Dominant and overwhelming leadership simply reflects a lack of self-esteem and confidence. We only have to look at the international political scene to see perfect examples of this and witness the results that these types of leaders generate around the world. The impact of these leadership styles is felt all over the globe and in our environment. Their behaviors, as well as the current suffering of their people, speak much louder than their most beautiful speeches.
The need to feel that we dominate others is simply a result of the fear of being dominated. The lack of trust in others simply reflects a lack of self-confidence. Everything we inflict on others, we also inflict on ourselves. All these behaviors come from our ego, and when our leadership is inspired by it, it is impossible to exercise powerful leadership in the long term, because the negative and destructive results will not be long in coming.
Love is the greatest force, because it comes directly from our heart. Moreover, love IS our source of life and our true nature. It brings together, mobilizes, inspires and literally creates miracles. The results generated by leadership inspired by love and the heart are much more significant, powerful and transformative, even propelling a people, a team or a family beyond what anyone believed possible.
Love is like the hub of a wheel: at the center of the wheel, everything becomes one. The further we move away from the hub of the wheel, outward, the larger the spaces between the spokes become, creating the illusion that they are separate from one another. However, it is the center of the wheel that keeps everything in place and allows the wheel to be solid and whole. This is also the role of our heart; it is our center, our hub.
Too often, we believe that our worth will be assessed by our appearance, our performance, our accomplishments, or our assets. We establish our life goals by considering our wallet. We believe we are successful because we bought the nicest car, the biggest house, or because we obtained university degrees, all needs stemming from our ego.
The great values of a leader can be summed up in three points: His faith, his family, and his great contribution to those around him, the mark he will have left behind.
An imprint that will never fade over time, especially the way he deeply touched people, not only his family members, but everyone around him and his community.
The Imprint of a Good Leader As a leader, whether of a people, a team, or your family, what would you like the testimony to be about you when you leave this life? What would you like to hear? What imprint would you like to leave behind? Would it be deep, so that the years will never be able to erase it from the memory of the people you have met?
What will remain in everyone’s memory will be a direct reflection of the kind of leadership you have expressed during your existence, that is, of the heart or of the ego? Will their memories be of a Leader who made a difference, or that of a Leader who made everyone around him miserable? Your legacy is being built now, in the present moment.
“There is no difficulty that love cannot conquer, no disease that love cannot cure, no door that love cannot open. Rising high enough in love consciousness can solve everything. If only we could love enough, we would be the most powerful and happiest beings in the world.”
– Emmet J. Fox
Text and picture credit : Ghislaine Labelle
