Leadership

Someone rightly said, “leaders are made, not born”. My friend Seanna lost her parents in an auto car accident. Her elder sister, Sharon, was severely injured in the accident. She lost her feet. Seanna was thirteen years old when this happened. Being the youngest, she had always been pampered. All of a sudden Seanna found herself in a situation that she was unfamiliar with. There was no one to guide her or even support her. Overnight, she changed, and the carefree, happy-go-lucky Seanna was replaced by a new Seanna who took care of her sister.

Seanna, the leader, just stepped out of nowhere. She bathed her sister, dressed her up, helped her get in to her wheel chair, cooked their meals, went to school and came home and read books to her. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and coherent. True, there was no organization here, just oneindividual named Sharon. Seanna influenced Sharon to get out of her self-pity and convinced her that she could choose to live a normal life. She convinced Sharon’s teachers to let her do self-study. Seanna worked doubly hard to copy notes for Sharon. Seanna could have gone out and done the things that other 13-yr-olds did but she chose to be her sister’s guide instead.

That is what leadership is about; putting the needs of others before your own. It is about helping people achieve their goals. When Sharon gave her tenth grade exams it was a big achievement for Seanna. Seanna, the leader, was not born, she was made!