I often ask myself why I have spent weeks and months writing my new book –Every Leader’s Reality Guide. Why did I feel I needed to share my knowledge and insights about what it means to be a good leader ?
I was always fascinated about leaders and leadership and I found myself in leadership positions from a relatively young age. I had to learn the hard way about good and bad leadership. In various leadership roles over more than 35 years I learned many hard lessons but I did learn from my mistakes because I was willing to look at the positives in failure as well as the positives in success. Both can be learning experiences.
And there are positives in failures if you learn lessons from them. There is no room for self-pity in leadership but there is plenty of room for self-scrutiny.
Leadership, like life, is a journey; there are challenges and obstacles and leadership is about solutions to those challenges. For this reason leaders need to have a clear vision of the road ahead and where they are going. The alternative is aimless drifting or implementing the vision of another person.
Leaders have followers because they have a clear vision of where they need to go and they can clearly and convincingly communicate that vision to others.
Followers follow a leader because they believe in the ability of their leader to realise a particular vision. But a vision is just a dream if there is no implementation strategy to reach a destination or achieve those goals which realise the vision.
In my book, Every Leader’s Reality Guide I devote an entire chapter to the importance of personal values and vision in terms of good leadership. My book challenges readers to reflect on their own values and what they stand for. Good leaders have principles and values and great leaders live and lead by their own ethical standards.
Today, we need more leaders with vision,courage and values.The current trend towards autocratic political leadership across the globe indicates a worrying trend towards authorianism. In politics and business in this 21st century we need to promote ethical and value-centred leadership as the basis for shaping our world. In truth we need more value-driven ethical leaders.
Leadership is not for the faint-hearted but,in some ways,it is for everyone. Whether at home, at work or in our communities we all adopt leadership roles when the need arises. Leadership, is not the preserve of the few;it is for us all.
Over more than three decades since my initial leadership baptism, I have observed the art of of good leadership while gaining extensive experience on my own leadership journey. That is why my own leadership experiences and influences permeate most chapters of my book.
I am pleased that Every Leader’s Reality Guide has been endorsed by some high profile leaders. It is not more of the same in terms of leadership know-how because it is written from my perspective and based on the lessons I learned on my leadership journey.It is also based on my own research on what it means to be a good leader. My book sets out what any aspiring or serving leader needs to do if they are to up their game from either average or good to become a great leader.
You can find Every Leader’s Reality Guide on this website www.michaelmoriarty.ie