Qualities of a Dignified Leader

There have been many great front-runners in times past. There have been iconic figures, labeled heroes in all ages of the human civilization. They were leaders, they stood for revolution, changing the world forever. Leaders are now needed in today‘s society. Without leaders this bustling highway called life would have no direction. There would be no carpool lane for the swift, expeditious   sports cars. No truck lane for the crippled 4x4s worn down from a never-ending cross-country venture. No overpasses, tunnels, no lines to be guided by. No cones to keep you out of harm’s unforgiving grasp. Leaders pour the pavement for society. Leaders give us direction. Although some leaders may try to demolish our highway, our lives, although some of us are   in the right light lane and others are in the left, we are all individuals. We decide whether to tolerate the actions of a leader or not. With that said, isn’t leadership within all of us? Can’t our beliefs potentially make us leaders? Leadership seems to me as a matter of willingness to stand for what you believe in. Yet, if we all have this leadership embedded in us as individuals what other qualities do the significant leaders of our time posses? How do they stand for what they believe in?

A great component of leadership is having a vision, and learning to develop it.

“A leader has the vision and conviction that a dream can be achieved. He inspires the power and energy to get it done” (Ralph Lauren). If permitted, this vision or dream can be the driving force of a leader’s life and legacy. Leaders let their ambitions grow wild and keep their visions cherished. “If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live life which he has imagined, he will meet with success unexpected in common hours” (Henry David Thoreau). The entity of leadership germinates within all of our souls, looking for dreams to hold on to. A leader allows his thoughts to be accessible, and embraces the...