by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. She was discovered whilst cleaning other people's houses. Even there she had "it". Her employers were so impressed that they taped her singing and sent the tape to a recording company. One thing lead to another and the woman soon to be known as "Lady Africa" was "discovered" by Alan Paton, who gave her a part as a chorus singer.That was in1964.
The poison called Apartheid was in full effect. But Lady Africa had that which would not be denied. Call it talent, call it fate, call it the right sound, call it destiny, call it luck. Soon she was singing to South Africa while showing the world that the spirit of the nation still lived, despite everything that could be done to suppress it.
Her name was Margaret Singana (1938-2000), and she sang her way into eternity with a number you need to hear to get full value from this article. It is "We Are Growing". Despite the fact that she suffered from the consequences of a 1980 stroke, she soared in this1986 comeback which became the theme song for the television series "Shaka Zulu". Go hear it now in any search engine. It is the heartbeat of a great people, a people that Nelson Mandela helped make greater still. Know them... learn from them... fly with them... "Ayoyo, oh, oyo/ Bayete, Inkosi".
"Be a man of greatness now... Be a man of wisdom now... Be a man of kindness now/ This is what you are/This is what to be." Let us begin...
This is an article that will be read by adults... but more importantly that must be read to children... because they need to know and understand that they are the most important people in all our lives, and we all have the responsibility to ease their often frustrating and difficult ways to the farthest extent possible.
Study leaders. Learn leadership from those who lead. Scrutinize! Understand! Emulate!
In his autobiography, Nelson Mandela (1918-2013) wrote of how he learned the crucial elements of leadership, large and small, by watching the ruler of the AbaThembu. He was the greatest figure in young Mandela's life... and thus a person worthy of the study.
This person of consequence obviously understood the critical importance of instructing the young. Mandela wrote, "I always remember the regent's axiom. A leader, he said, is like a shepherd, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind."
Now. Not later.
When was the last time you took child in hand, be that a gleeful five-year-old or surly, truculent teen-ager and opened a candid discussion on leadership? In your answer is how much you want that young person to succeed. My father, for instance, Donald Marshall Lant, now very near the conclusion of 9 decades, had at his instant disposal a person whose story he insisted his children know and follow.That person was General George S. Patton (1885-1945).
"Find the man in the furthest trench... Find the muddiest soldier there... Find the man leading from this trench... and you will have found General Patton." We learned he was a man of decisive action... a man who lead from the front... a man who followed Teddy Roosevelt's famous formula for success, "Do the best you can... with what you've got... where you are."
"You wanted to follow such a man... for he was doing what needed to be done. Helping such a one is a privilege, no matter how onerous, difficult, or exacting the task..." As for me, Father, I remember, I remember. Some lessons abide, appreciation for them never ending. This was such a lesson. Select Your Leader.
Luckily, Mandela had his leader close at hand, but not all of us are so fortunate to have an amiable monarch of pedagogical inclinations near. Thus, select a leader to befriend. Here's how to do it...
Start by drawing up a list of local leaders, people you know, know of, clergy, educators, writers, politicians, military officers, civic worthies, union and business leaders. These people, some of whom may live and work in your neighborhood, are more accessible than say, Pope Francis, although you should not neglect His Holiness. He clearly has a most congenial way with young people.
Write (note I did not say type) a letter that mingles unabashed admiration with a plea for their understanding and assistance. Such a letter is a minor art form and goes something like this. (I need hardly say that properly presented, such a missive is irresistible):
"Honored one, I present myself to you for an honorable purpose... to learn from you and become in the process a better person. Will you allow me to know and study you? I am just 15 years old and am at what my parents call an impressionable age. It would be a matter of the utmost significance if you would allow me to be impressed by you and so have your important deeds and actions chronicled by me."
Like I said, properly presented, such a missive is irresistible.
Include your biographical details. You may use a resume, though this is not an (immediate) job application. Your most winsome and arresting photo should be included; (be sure it isn't the classic of you on a white bear skin rug in the altogether.) That may be misconstrued. Add a recommendation or two from an adult, preferably a teacher, pastor, or other eminent personage who knows you and realizes that all future leaders begin here, needing a bit of help to commence their thousand mile journey.
Steps to building a leader. Now you are ready to begin.
1) Deliver your request in person whenever possible. If not send by a carrier that requires a signature.
2) Always include your phone number and e-mail address. Include your social network page.
3) If you have not received a response within two weeks, send an e-mail or telephone your designated leader. These folks are busy; help them out by following up.
4) Be prepared to speak to your chosen leader. Brainstorm what you will say and WRITE IT DOWN.
5) Schedule a convenient time to meet with your leader for that all-important first encounter. Remember, you never get a second chance to make the best first impression.
6) Before the meeting get a scrap-book and collect everything you can about this person. A scrap-book is essential for this project and must be kept up-to-date, especially for this crucial first time.
7) Make sure at least one parent or adult accompanies you to this meeting and testifies to your seriousness of intent and good habits. Be sure to look the part of the young leader for this and all future meetings. Slovenly look and demeanor are completely unacceptable. Too, make sure your cell-phone does NOT ring during the meeting; this is a must.
"Hear the children, hear the children/ They are talking to you."
Whether you've ever considered the matter or not, you must know that every child, of whatever age wants not just to be liked but far more important to be respected and admired, in the classroom, on the playing field, within any given organization or the broader community, or even worldwide. Your help is crucial in achieving this critical role. Are you doing the necessary?
1) Set the objective, ensuring that each child has a leadership goal.
2) Help the child, which means assisting and advising, not doing the work needed. If you do that you've defeated the entire purpose.
3) Ask for regular reports and follow-up. Do not assume there is progress. Know.
4) Praise whenever possible, critique softly but always honestly. This is essential.
5) If the necessary communication between young person and designated leader breaks down, intervene and with deft handling put the matter back on track.
Finally, when the project is well advanced, arrange with your leader a meeting to share the scrapbook with all its valuable insights into the important matter of leadership. Be sure a photographer is present to record this auspicious moment for an awaiting posterity. Send it to your local newspaper; post it online in social networks with appropriate caption.
If you've followed the steps in this article, you may be sure the leader's incandescent smile is real, not assumed. Then ask her for a recommendation... for, remember, leaders leverage each and every action to achieve still greater renown.
Then sit-down and congratulate yourself for you have given your child the necessary leg up. You've done, in short, what good parents do... and you have every reason to feel pleased with yourself, not least because you exemplify the crucial concept of "umbuntu", that is "you are open and available to others, affirming of others... with a proper self-assurance."
"Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu"... we rise not alone, but through other people." And this is the most important leadership lesson of all.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com
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by Dr. Jeffrey Lant
Author's program note. A funny thing happened while you were at your office bemoaning the demise of America and its Great Republic: they didn't die after all. Quite the reverse. See for yourself. Skim the business pages of your local newspaper today, and you'll see one piece of cheery economic news after another. Admittedly, some of these pieces are like the first signs of the plucky springtime crocus... you see only the very tip... but even that's a very good sign; where there's a shoot, there's a flower on the way... And that's what we're seeing now... one zestful harbinger after another.
This is a moment for the kind of jubilation that sent the God-selected Pilgrims to their knees, penitential arms upward and wide spread, head down, fervent hallelujahs on their prayerful lips.
You are still here.... older, wiser, nicked a bit, but a survivor.
You were, we all were, sore tested in recent years. So you learned to hunker down.... you mastered the art of making do with less... you kept business, hearth and home together... and, most of all, you did it with faith, fortitude, and a smile that never wavered despite great provocations.
You said you'd live to fight another day... and now you have.
This is that day!
This is the very dawn of that epochal date when unhappy past gives way to all the bounty of tomorrow... "now is the winter of our discontent made glorious summer..."
And because that day has dawned, you face the promise of the future with joy in your heart and a bounce in your step. It is good to be alive!
Sales up! Confidence up!
This kind of budding jubilation is occurring now; it's happening across America as the Great Republic recalls that it is eternal... whilst the bad times that assail us are mere interruptions, no matter how bad. We all knew this, of course, but we were made distracted by the unceasing jeremiads of the nay-sayers. The pity parties they sponsored for the nation are over, de trop... and the Chicken Littles are roosting now until their next inevitable appearance. As we lock these wet hens away for the duration our motto is this,
Laissez les bon temps rouler.
And as we pined for them, scanned the horizon for them, hoped and prayed for them, never ceasing to believe in them, so shall we enjoy with adolescent zest and gratitude every such day that follows.
Our song for such high glee is none other than Fleetwood Mac's 1977 release... a defiant anthem, not merely a tune but a guillotine for the bad times, a declaration of our grit and where we are going; "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow", a tune about perseverance, a soaring statement about who we are... and why we are here today triumphant, grateful, the stronger for having surmounted every imp in Pandora's box, for this is what we live for.....success, pure, simple, thrilling, sweeter than any posy ever grown.
There's only one thing worse than losing... and that's winning.
This is also, of course, the most perilous place for you to be, for it is undoubtedly true that there is only one thing worse than the arduous vicissitudes of failure... and that is high-flying success. And so, dear friend, with the incipience and advent of the next bout of Good New Days we must well and truly take note and prepare for the best... for it can distract, deter, discombobulate, and after so much patience and endurance that would never do.
Success does not dribble, it surges... and this is the problem.
There is nothing like turbulent times, the times that test our resolve, to draw us together, one for all, all for one. It is one of our most admirable human characteristics, that we work together, to stand or fall together. Talk to any British person of World War II vintage and they will, without an instant's delay, tell you about, and proudly too, what life was like during the great Blitz of London... and words pour out -- of unity, community, togetherness, of teamwork and selflessness. They treasure such moments, as you should, for they show us what we are capable of when the going gets rough, demanding, anxious and daunting.
But when the bad times lift and morph from present unease and concern to mere history, no more alarming, this is when the Bitch-Goddess Success delights in turning the tables upon our grand expectations. For the unity, coherence, and grit of bad days begins to give way to chaos, confusion, and selfishness, and so you must be careful, thoughtful, prepared to skillfully negotiate the hot potato of success. Here are some recommendations for doing so:
1) Your success did not come about just by you alone. Many people helped you. Now is the time to recognize their contribution and to thank them. You got through the bad times, ready to tend and fructify the good times relying on many others; now is the time to show your decency and integrity by saying so and showing your gratitude in ways meaningful to those who eased your way.
2) Launch a debt reduction project. After your daring, electrifying escape from the bad times, the natural inclination will be to let 'er rip, plunking down coin of the realm to acquire long- deferred luxuries. In a word, DON'T.
The first thing to do is take a long, cool, dispassionate look at your financial position with particular reference to the debt you are carrying. While the tendency once the yoke is off is to spend, spend, spend your reality must be focused on aggressive debt reduction, not more debt "justified" by the newly minted good times.
3) Review your life and circumstances. What of your infrastructure needs to be reviewed, restored, replaced to ensure that your personal and business environments are safe, secure, in tiptop shape? Remember, those roofing repairs you put off until "better times"'? They should now at the top of your list. This is what is important... not to binge or make up for lost time.
4) Use cheap money. As I write, the cost of borrowing money is just about 3 percent. By historical standards this is dirt cheap. Take advantage of this situation; it is mutable, short- lived and tailor-made for the upwardly mobile. Use such money to dramatically improve your asset position, for as every Yuppie knows, he who has the most toys, wins; with this caveat: the toys you acquire must have the likelihood of increasing your wealth, not siphoning much needed capital to sustain your too expensive, too indulgent personal foibles.
5) Buy equities. For the last several years, Wall Street and all the other great exchanges of the world have been on sale, offering often mind boggling price discounts. This sale is now in the early stages of winding up. Wait no longer to benefit. If you buy quality at discount prices, you quite simply cannot lose, for all that the markets are very various, as always.
6) Start a meaningful investment program at once. Each person, all families need a challenging investment program. Why? Because you're growing older and will not relish being old without the comfort and security of revenue from your investments. Of course you should have started earlier; of course you shouldn't have liquidated such investments during the Great Recession. But all that is water under the bridge. Make it a point to start investing now; investing at least 10% of your gross salary. Tomorrow will come; only by such means will it be the tomorrow you desire and have always dreamed of.
"Don't stop thinking about tomorrow."
Now it's time for my final piece of advice for today: dance! You've been a wall flower at the ball long enough. Now it's time to dust off your iconic moves and dazzle. To begin, go to any search engine and capture the Fleetwood Mac song. Then move that body and sing along to a recipe for success that never fails:
"Don't stop thinking about tomorrow Don't stop, it'll soon be here It'll be better than before Yesterday's gone, yesterday's gone."
Amen.
About the Author
Harvard-educated Dr. Jeffrey Lant is CEO of Worldprofit, Inc., providing a wide range of online services for small and-home based businesses. Services include home business training, affiliate marketing training, earn-at-home programs, traffic tools, advertising, webcasting, hosting, design, WordPress Blogs and more. Find out why Worldprofit is considered the # 1 online Home Business Training program by getting a free Associate Membership today. Republished with author's permission by Ruthsella Corasol http://WorkingAtHome101.com.
