Leadership training should be compulsory for youth
Lal Fonseka
* Self-Confidence
* Team-work
* Dedication
* Lead by Example
* Developing team-mates or subordinates
* Never say die attitude
* Accepting the defeat in an ethical manner
Leadership training should be compulsory for youth to build self -
confidence and earn victories in the international sphere as well as
locally," the defense Secretary said at the Piping Ceremony of the SLEAS
Class 1 Principals and MOE officers as Brevet Colonels at the Defense
Ministry recently.
He said if their confidence, leadership qualities, team work
abilities etc. were not built up properly, they would not be able to
take the best probable decision at the crucial point of a competition
which would be a letdown for the country as well as a setback at a
special occasion in one's life.
The Defense Secretary said the Sri Lankan cricket team while being
the best, failed on four consecutive crucial occasions, the last being
at the 20-20 World Cup as they lacked self - confidence.
He said Tony Greig told him at a discussion prior to the match that
the Sri Lankan team was talented enough to win the World Cup. Secretary
Rajapaksa said an environment should be created for children to take
decisions without being spoon fed. He said it was left to Principals,
teachers and schools to play an important role in achieving this end.
The above were some excerpts from the Ceylon Daily News on October 9,
2012.
What a nice speech of Gothabahaya Rajapaksa? Four consecutive times
after being the best team in the tournament, Sri Lankan cricket team
failed to bring the glory to the country. Mahela now tells that they
could not cope up the pressure built up during the game. See once again
what the defense secretary stated in the paper.
" If their confidence, leadership qualities, team work abilities
etc.; were not built up properly, they would not be able to take the
best probable decision at the crucial point of a competition which would
be a letdown for the country as well as a setback at a special occasion
in one's life."
Our defeat at the hand of Windies on that particular Sunday occurred
not due to our inabilities but exactly due to the abovefacts quoted by
Rajapaksha. At the end of the match,the decision taken by the team
leader itself talks about the lack of self-confidence he had during the
match. He has decided to step-down as the captain of the team of T20
format.
Is it a correct decision to take, if he is having the correct
leadership qualities? There is no question about his cricketing ability.
Then my question is as to why he undertook the leadership of the team
when Sangakkara and Dilshan stepped down previously quoting the same
reasons.
In this time, I suppose no one asked him to step down. All cricket
fans of this country like Mahela to continue as our cricket captain
until suchtime he is able to groom his successor. Our question now iswhy
we failed to lift the cup in front of more than 25,000 Sri Lankan
cricket fans. Answer is nothing but the lack of good leadership
qualities may be due to lack of improper training. Some of the
leadership qualities that I mean are shown below.
SelfConfidence
Self- confidence is the difference between feeling unstoppable and
feeling scared out of your wits. Your perception of yourself has an
enormous impact on how others perceive you. Perception is reality - the
more self- confidence you have, the more likely it is you'll succeed.
"If you have no confidence in self you are twice defeated in the race
of life.With confidence you have won even before you have started."
- Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey, Jr., ONH was a Jamaican political leader,
publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator "Mr. Fonseka, I was so
nervous! My heart was racing and I was sweating. I couldn't think
straight."This is how a team leader of a soccer team began telling me a
horror story about his experience in a closely finished soccer match
which he had lost by a slight margin.
"I don't know what was wrong with me", he continued. "I knew we were
the better team but at the end we lost. I just kept thinking about all
the ways that I could mess things up. It was like my self-confidence
just disappeared."
This person's story is not unique. In fact, many people are feeling
overwhelmed by the need to achieve, the complexity of competition, and a
fear of failure or rejection.
As a result their self-confidence is like the mystical unicorn -
elusive and seldom, if ever, seen. You will probably never catch a
unicorn, but here are the some steps that could help you capture your
self-confidence.
Focus on what is right, not what is wrong
When someone has a strange look on his face what do people usually
ask?
What is wrong with you? You face is not happy today. Similarly people
do always talk about work, school life and other people they are usually
talking about what is wrong. They do always expect whatever they do to
end up with failures. They do always think that everything could go
wrong.
This is not a lecture about positive mental attitude. It takes more
than just positive thinking to build self-confidence. It takes effective
thinking.
It is good to know your shortcomings and weaknesses, but it's
ineffective to constantly focuson them. That type of thinking can
nullify your strengths and kill your self-confidence.
Once you know what your weaknesses are and what problems could arise
it is, time to decide how you are going to keep your weaknesses from
coming into play and what to do about the potential problems.
Once you know, put all of that to the side and with laser-like-focus
hone in on what's right - your strengths and what can go well.
Of course, this is easier said than done. If you come across a tiger
while walking in a jungle, all of your attention will be focused on the
tiger because it is a threat. It is time to run so your body enters into
what is known as Fight or Flight Response Mode.
Now what is the action you would like to take? Run away or fight the
tiger? Otherwise, try to give your way to tiger and avoid it. Depending
on the situation, you are required to take a best decision. This is
where you need training on leadership and team-work.
It works in similar fashion when it comes to failure, rejection, or
maybe even stiff competition. Unconsciously your mind perceives
disappointment as a threat to your mental and emotional well-being. So
when something important is on the horizon and you are not sure how it's
going to turn out you automatically begin to focus on the perceived
threat- what's wrong or what could go wrong.
But failure, rejection, and disappointment are not tigers; you can
fight them.
Whatever of the situation, to help you focus on what is right, on
paper list your strengths and everything that could right. (If you are
finding more things wrong than right about a situation then you probably
need to move on to a new situation.)
Also, completing and constantly saying the following phrases-or
something similar-to your-self will build confidence: I am sure these
phrases might have come to Mahela's mind during the time of play.
* I have a good chance of succeeding because I have the best players
in the world
* Everything will work out because we are strong.
* Today is going to be an extraordinary day because we are playing in
front of home crowd.
* West Indies could only manage to score 30 odd runs in the first ten
overs during which time their best player was back in the pavilion. So
it cannot be a big problem to curtail the other ten overs.
These declarations will not magically make things perfect but they
will help to bring back your self-confidence.
Once you begin to regularly use these and similar phrases you will
create vivid images in your mind that will help you to succeed.
All what I noticed in the members of the whole team including the
leader is theover-confidence and under-rating the opponents once Crist
Gayle was out. Captain/leader of a team should control him-self by over-joying
every time when a wicket falls. He should calm down and further improve
on the plan he has already laid. Instead of doing this, we saw something
unexpected from a person in the caliber of Mahela. Please do not
misunderstand Mahela. I am trying to give you and the other members of
the team with some management principles to face at the next event.
Visualize Your Victory
"I would close my eyes andI would start envisioning. And thisis a
very powerful tool .I can definitely say thatI would never be standingin
front of you all todayifI never envisioned."
Those are the words of Dominique Dawes, the first African-American
gymnast to win anindividual Olympic medal and a member of the 1996 gold
medal winning Olympic U.S. Women's Gymnastics team.
Envision yourself successfully achieving your desired outcome. The
more detailed your visualization, the more powerful lit will be.
By doing this daily you will also have more confidencein unexpected
situations.
It's easier to visualize your victory when you commit to proper prior
preparation. Losing a game or making losses in an organization is not a
big thing. But if you could take some effective actions to bring the
success, why not we use them?
Thoroughly prepare and be authentic
Long before anyone else does, you knowif you have properly prepared
for the task at hand.It's difficult to be confident when you are not
prepared and pretending to besomething that you're not. Thoroughly
prepare and keepit real. Be authentic.
As you prepare, focus on what is right, visualize your victory.
You talk about how things will be great and they tell you how
everything is going to fall apart and how they would be worried if they
were you. Do you know what you should tell people like that?Absolutely
nothing.
Don't tell them about your dreams, aspirations, or goals.
These kind of people dwell in negative environments-which should be
avoided at all costs.
Set bite-sized goals and celebrate success.
When a task, goal, or obstacle appears to be insurmountable your
self-confidence can begin to wane.
The good news, however, is that small, successful experiences can
produce more confidence.
The Million-Dollar Question: Do confident people still get nervous?
YES. Performance anxiety is a normal thing but the more
self-confidence you have the sooner it goes away. Self-confidence is a
priceless asset that will frequently tip the odds in your favour. |