The Leadership Test

I am sure we have all wondered at times: “Am I a Leader?” You are sure about leading people and you have been doing it for ages, but that question does not go away. Am I doing everything to be called a Leader?
There are many definitions of Leadership and enough programs being run around the Globe on Leadership Development. They all focus on telling you what are the competencies required for a Leader and how to develop them. But none of them talk about “Do you believe you are a Leader now?” What kind of validation will help you call yourself a Leader. These validations could come from within or from the outside world. Depends on what is your need! Some need only one of them and some need both before they can validate themselves.
It’s important to understand what are your validation requirements. Here is a simple test to figure out:
1. Take a piece of paper and divide it into four quadrants
2. Define the quadrants as:

• Why I believe I am a Leader
• Why I believe others believe I am a Leader
• What else do I need to believe in myself as a Leader
• What else should I receive from others to know they believe I am a Leader

3. Start filling in the above order in each quadrant
4. It is ok to think and take time while you are writing the first two. For the last two, it is important to write what comes to your mind immediately without giving a lot of thought. Those will be more important than what you will write down after a lot of thought.
These validations are very important for each of us and if you can sit and reflect, this could be life changing for you. You might realize some things that you do today are not what you should be doing. This has nothing to do with competency of being a Leader but more with what we expect: from us and from others!!
Your Leadership style is your own. Nobody else can emulate that and neither you can emulate others. Make your own path and just believe!!