Think and Grow Rich
By Napoleon Hill
Extract from Chapter 7
(Organized Planning: The crystallization
of desire into action)
THE MAJOR ATTRIBUTES OF LEADERSHIP
The following are
important factors of leadership:-
1. UNWAVERING COURAGE
based upon knowledge of self, and of one's occupation.
No follower wishes to be dominated by a leader who lacks
self-confidence and courage. No intelligent follower will
be dominated by such a leader very long.
2. SELF-CONTROL. The
man who cannot control himself, can never control others.
Self-control sets a mighty example for one's followers,
which the more intelligent will emulate.
3. A KEEN SENSE OF
JUSTICE. Without a sense of fairness and justice, no leader
can command and retain the respect of his followers.
4. DEFINITENESS OF
DECISION. The man who wavers in his decisions, shows that
he is not sure of himself. He cannot lead others successfully.
5. DEFINITENESS OF
PLANS. The successful leader must plan his work, and work
his plan. A leader who moves by guesswork, without practical,
definite plans, is comparable to a ship without a rudder.
Sooner or later he will land on the rocks.
6. THE HABIT OF DOING
MORE THAN PAID FOR. One of the penalties of leadership
is the necessity of willingness, upon the part of the
leader, to do more than he requires of his followers.
7. A PLEASING PERSONALITY.
No slovenly, careless person can become a successful leader.
Leadership calls for respect. Followers will not respect
a leader who does not grade high on all of the factors
of a Pleasing Personality.
8. SYMPATHY AND UNDERSTANDING.
The successful leader must be in sympathy with his followers.
Moreover, he must understand them and their problems.
9. MASTERY OF DETAIL.
Successful leadership calls for mastery of details of
the leader's position.
10. WILLINGNESS TO
ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY. The successful leader must
be willing to assume responsibility for the mistakes and
the shortcomings of his followers. If he tries to shift
this responsibility, he will not remain the leader. If
one of his followers makes a mistake, and shows himself
incompetent, the leader must consider that it is he who
failed.
11. COOPERATION. The
successful leader must understand, and apply the principle
of cooperative effort and be able to induce his followers
to do the same. Leadership calls for POWER, and power
calls for COOPERATION. There are two forms of Leadership.
The first, and by far the most effective, is LEADERSHIP
BY CONSENT of, and with the sympathy of the followers.
The second is LEADERSHIP BY FORCE, without the consent
and sympathy of the followers.
History is filled with
evidences that Leadership by Force cannot endure. The
downfall and disappearance of "Dictators" and
kings is significant. It means that people will not follow
forced leadership indefinitely.
The world has just
entered a new era of relationship between leaders and
followers, which very clearly calls for new leaders, and
a new brand of leadership in business and industry. Those
who belong to the old school of leadership-by-force, must
acquire an understanding of the new brand of leadership
(cooperation) or be relegated to the rank and file of
the followers. There is no other way out for them.
The relationship of
employer and employee, or of leader and follower, in the
future, will be one of mutual cooperation, based upon
an equitable division of the profits of business. In the
future, the relationship of employer and employee will
be more like a partnership than it has been in the past.
Napoleon, Kaiser Wilhelm
of Germany, the Czar of Russia, and the King of Spain
were examples of leadership by force. Their leadership
passed. Without much difficulty, one might point to the
prototypes of these ex-leaders, among the business, financial,
and labor leaders of America who have been dethroned or
slated to go. Leadership-by-consent of the followers is
the only brand which can endure!
Men may follow the
forced leadership temporarily, but they will not do so
willingly.
The new brand of LEADERSHIP
will embrace the eleven factors of leadership, described
in this chapter, as well as some other factors. The man
who makes these the basis of his leadership, will find
abundant opportunity to lead in any walk of life. The
depression was prolonged, largely, because the world lacked
LEADERSHIP of the new brand. At the end of the depression,
the demand for leaders who are competent to apply the
new methods of leadership has greatly exceeded the supply.
Some of the old type of leaders will reform and adapt
themselves to the new brand of leadership, but generally
speaking, the world will have to look for new timber for
its leadership. This necessity may be your OPPORTUNITY!
