Sustain People's Effort
Try to exercise constant control over the reality you live with, so that the efforts to respond to its demands can reach the level of excellence.
More than a year and six months ago I have finished writing my first book. It's called "Leadership for Dummies" , and took me almost seven months to write it. I have never written a book or worked at a newspaper or magazine, so I had no experience in writing. That's why I offered a book to six persons, a book for each one, who were quite important persons, who I known and who where having high level jobs in different institutions and famous companies in Romania. I asked them to send me a feedback about the quality of the paper. I knew there were a lot of aspects that I had to improve, a lot of things that should be modified or things that should be added.
Do you know how many persons helped me?
None. That much they were disinterested in me, in my efforts and my realizations. My luck was that I had an intuition from the start that nobody would even bother with my paper and this is why I didn't even put too much hope in their help. But I had to convince myself that my intuition regarding human psychology is working well.
Leadership: Could you expand your horizons beyond what you think are your limits as to make known your personal value beyond the price you have to pay?
A lot of people are making a lot of effort to realize valuable things, and in the end they have to take at least one difficult decision. If you don't encourage them, if you don't sustain them moral when they most need you, you will never succeed in becoming a true leader. If you really want people to esteem you, you have to show them that you sincerely are interested in their faith, their career and their realisations.
Many years ago, the American philosopher William James was saying: "The most profound principle of human nature is the thirst of being appreciated." Appreciate people's efforts, sustain them when they doubt and wake their enthusiasm when they are desolated. If you want to create an enviable reputation and if you hope to become an efficient leader, you have to learn to be more generous with people, especially with those who believe in you and have the hope that you will help them.
The price I paid was to continue to find reasons for planting a tree where I think it is appropriate, not where every cottage has its own. The tree did not suddenly grow up a lot and did not make fruit almost in the early years. But it has developed strong roots that have given it strength and self-confidence when it has reached its height. It anchored me, giving me an edge and meaning of life.
Leadership: Are you able to think BIG in terms of a value obtained from nothing?
The true magic of a leap to a whole new level is to be able to think BIG from the point of view of a value obtained from nothing. You practically start with the end and then do everything you need to get to it. This principle is best expressed by writer Roger Dawson:
The Cadillac automobile company once made an ad worth seeing again even after one hundred years.
It began in black and white and showed a young man dressed in a golf suit in the 1930s, being the boy who gathered the balls in a very elegant and exclusive club. He gathered the golf clubs and put them in one among the first models of Cadillac. A voice offscreen said: "You’d known ever since that one day you will be driving a Cadillac."
Then the image suddenly became colorful and I saw the young man, who had grown up in the meantime, coming out of the same club in his bright, brand new Cadillac.
Your value is not given by the experience you are experiencing, namely the inability to overcome a gulf of favors you never gain, but the power to believe in the ability to build a staircase allow you to reach the heights you desire.
The second lesson you have to learn, if you want to step a stair up in your career is this: "Don't put all the eggs in one basket." As many times you confront a problem, a situation in which you need help, it is good to not count on the help from a single person, because you might have a surprise. This why it's important that in every situation to have prepared a plan B.
You probable know how things are in our country. Who hasn't high level relations or who hasn't enough money to appeal at a specialist, a step forward can be made with a lot of difficulty. With some rare exceptions it's possible that nobody will help you, so you have to manage yourself, without counting on the other people help. Don't forget that for the most talented leaders any problem can hide a new challenge. And the biggest challenge is to confront your problems with optimism and to get over them.
