Leadership itself is a challenge. Leaders are challenged by themselves and by the people they work with, as well as external challenges. The challenges of oneself encompasses their personality traits and characteristics. Understanding and accepting or changing these traits and characteristics is a learning experience. Challenges from others a leader works with are well known to most good leaders. Being open and connected is key to keeping such challenges at a minimum. External challenges can be from the corporation or community organization where one leads. It can encompass budgets issues, resource issues, and a myriad of other typical business challenges. A good leader learns to confront their challenges and demonstrate confidence is resolving any issue as that energy will propagate amongst their people. When people see a leader deal decisively and wisely with a challenge, they maintain their faith in the goal of the organization.
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Your last point here is dead on. Those who follow me don’t just see a person giving orders – if I do my job right, they see a sort of living embodiment of the organization itself. If I fail, so too does the organization in their eyes. If I remain true to them and faithful in my work, then the organization keeps its value in their estimation. Leaders are representative to their people of the organization they serve. A leader is a symbol, in a way, just as much as a logo or a motto.
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