S

ince the beginning of reformation in the country over 14 years ago, many Indonesian people want to be regarded as leaders. Indonesian elites, in the euphoria of democracy, lust after leadership positions both locally and nationally. Being a leader is considered easy but it is not. A leader should have a number of attributes that are embedded into their basic personality.

A leader must be able to provide added value to an organization and its stakeholders so that he can create a better life. It is very important for a leader to always be thinking tirelessly about how to best contribute to the creation of added value for the organization he leads.

A leader must be able to unite the members of the group. One of the most important concepts of management is how a leader can carry out organization plans and achieve targets set by others. Therefore, it is highly unlikely for a successful leader to work alone without the help and support of other team members.

A leader has dreams. A true leader must throw the word “cannot” out of the dictionary of life. A leader does not give up, is not prone to despair, is tenacious, has a mental toughness, is willing to learn from failure and continues to strive to be the best, wants to be the first and the best and never wants to lose.

The key to successful leadership is influence not rules. Many people incorrectly interpret the concept of leadership so that leaders are always trying to dominate, always want to be valued and respected and are busy building their image. For such a leader power, authority and mandate are not to be compromised and orders must be implemented by subordinates.

A leader should be efficient. An efficient leader is one who can always simplify complicated issues so that the root of the problem can be easily identified and solved. He always views a situation from above and uses strategic thinking.

Leaders know how to put the right people in the right position. The task of a leader is to explore and identify the talents within the organization and then to empower them through a learning process in the form of coaching, training and other appropriate development in accordance with the demands of competencies needed by the organization.

To be a great leader, the first thing to do is to be a servant, so a leader should serve and not be served. Certainly a capable leader is willing to accept and accommodate all opinions and ideas from subordinates, if an idea has the potential to improve the performance of the organization, whether in relation to efficiency and effectiveness, especially those associated with innovation and creativity. A great leader always listens, inspires and offers solutions.

Leadership is associated with the creation process of more and better leaders than him. A leader should be a visionary who has the foresight; he does not want the organization to achieve success only because of the role and contribution of one person, an organization’s dependence on just one person is unhealthy.

A leader should be a person who has high moral and religious values. A leader should not be easily tempted by the worldly life which could lead him into excessive lust and hedonism.

Aries Musnandar
Malang, East Java