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Are you aware all organisations have a unique personality that you can sense the moment you walk into the organisation? You are welcomed with a smile and everybody there seems to be interested in you and supporting one another to make you feel great. I have been to some organisations that, right from the security man at the gate to the chief executive officer (CEO), you feel the resentment not only for yourself, but also for those who work in that organisation. Guess my reaction �Good Lord help me to quickly get through with my business here, so that I can escape through the next available gate.� What makes the difference? Is it the building in which they are? Is it their uniforms? No! it is something ingrained in the people a sense of unity that gives them that excellent personality. Where there is unity, there is peace, love and harmony. The leader, however, is the one who sets the tone that binds the whole organisation together. Everybody, including even the least member, is so affected that he pushes in the same direction. Leaders who do not appreciate the importance of unity employ divide-and-rule tactics and eventually run down their organisations, making them fractured into pockets of people who are loyal to different personalities. Whilst some belong to the CEO�s, camp, others belong to their deputies, and this phenomenon runs through the entire systems. Subsequently, this leads to suspicion and mistrust. A leader of such an institution can have the greatest dreams and objectives in the world, but it will be of no use. Monkeys, cats, dogs and goats kept in a common pen can never unite to pursue a common goal. Each �colony� will only seek to satisfy their own selfish ends, ad if care is not taken, they will ends, and if care is not taken, they will eat up one another. Psychologist James Dobson said �the philosophy of me first has the power to blow our world to pieces, whether applied to marriage, business or international politics�. A united group of followers can only be created by a good leader who realizes everybody is important and treat them as such. Real leaders use policies to bind people together and not to scatter them. Real leaders are caring and know that united they stand, divided they fall. They also believe that an organisation like a chain is just as strong as its weakest link. How can we think that we can be successful leaders when we, by our own actions and inaction, make our followers march in different directions by treating them spitefully? How can we cheat on our supposed valuable assets (the people) and expect a united team? Wess Roberts, in his book �Leadership Secrets of Attila the Hum�, states, �Without flock there can be no shepherd. Without an army there can be no battle captains. Without subordinates there can be no leaders. Leaders are therefore caretakers of the interest and the well-being of those and the purposes they serve�. If only in our various leadership positions we wouldn�t only think of ourselves, but live the last line of what Wess Roberts wrote in his book �to be caretakers of the interest and well being of those we serve�, our organisations will turn into very united teams with a common purpose. Alexander the great, the Greek King, is talked about by many of us, but do we know why he is called Alexander the Great? Just read the following on one of his spectacular behaviors as a leader, recorded in Neil Eskelin�s to have an insight. �The Greek King once led his troops across a hot, arid desert. After nearly two weeks of marching, he and his soldiers were near death from thirst, but Alexander pushed ahead� �In the noonday sun, two of his scouts brought the little water they were able to find. It barely filled a cup. Alexander�s troops were shocked when he poured the water into the burning sand�. �The King said, �It is of no use for one to drink when many thirst�. How many of us can do this in the difficult times we live in now? How many of us can treat our followers as human beings and colleagues as Alexander did? How many of us are not fighting among ourselves for opportunities to appropriate things which do not legitimately belong to us? Our obligation as leaders is not only to earn what is required to support us and our families, but to also manage the personality of our organisations by properly handing resources, starting with the human beings in our care to ensure unity, peace and harmony. E-mail-:[email protected] Culled from Leadership Hotline: The Mirror