The burden of leadership
The most difficult job on earth is to be a leader. Leadership as a role is so complicated that requires a lot of things to fulfill. Human beings are the most difficult living things to lead. Leadership is all about influencing people to achieve a particular goal.
A leader must be certain and see the future from a far before leading people to achieving those goals. There are many books on leadership and how to lead effectively. All of the principles in those books might not really work out because of the complexity of human nature. Humans as described by social scientists as social animals have dynamic nature that varies one from another. That is why there is no one principle that works across all humans. This is the burden that leaders go through when attempting to lead a divergent group of people to achieve common goals.
To achieve this feat, a leader must possess some skills that will help him master the right kind of skill needed in the job. There are many leadership skills but the greatest amongst them is patience. I see patience as a virtue that will help a leader to aggregate the different beliefs, cultures and behaviors of the people he's leading. Without patience, it will be difficult to tolerate the people you're leading. Patience will help you see the might in the people even though they might appear feeble. It takes patience to grow someone to a certain height of life. Show me a successful leader in any field of specialization, and I will show you someone with a high level of patience.
Many people think that it's easy at the top. As a leader, all eyes are on you. You dare not show weakness. Otherwise, people will see you as a failure. Additionally, you must ensure that you look for a solution to every problem that comes to your table, if you fail to do it you are also tagged a failure. This is another burden of leadership. People see leaders as superhumans. But this is not always so. They're humans too.
Most times the leaders too make things complicated for them. They make people see them as demigods instead of humans. Let the people know that as a leader you have problems too, you have bills to settle, and that you pass through emotional issues that need someone to talk to about. In this case, most of the burdens on leadership will be lifted.
It's not an easy task to carry the burdens of other people on your shoulders with the hope of shouldering them. I have occupied an office where I have to attend to people. I then realized that almost everyone has one problem or the other. Managing this problem amicably is a great burden in leadership.
I believe that there are blessings that comes with leading. Taking a group of feeble people and grooming them to become great in life can not happen without a blessing attached to it. No good act is without a blessing. This is my belief and it's a reality. As a leader, when the burden is much on you and you feel like giving up. Remember the people whom you have groomed so far and that there's a blessing awaiting you.
Thank you.