LWT Philosophy (5): “SPARK: Turbulent times build great leaders” – Part (1)

“We Could NEVER learn to be brave and patient if there were only joy in the world”

Every single one of us faces in his life times of trouble… When life seems so dark and No way out… So much feeling of stress and Sadness… When “What to do!” becomes a big question in our heads…

Before we go into this, I want to remind you of something we said before… Which is OUR BELIEFS! And that our beliefs shape our behaviors! Just in here lies the Key!

Everyone of us has a zone called “The comfort zone”… It includes the habits and things we always do, the things that make us feel peaceful, safe and secure..

When we take a step outside that zone and do new things, we begin to feel discomfort and anxious… But the good news is “Life begins when the comfort zone ends” because “You cannot discover new oceans unless you have the courage to lose the sight of the shore”

The fear we move through as we go to the edge of our limits actually causes our limits to expand :)

As we said before, we were born with huge abilities and potentials inside! ALLAH created us for a huge mission and prepared us for it by giving us those potentials… Our HIDDEN potentials we need to discover! And one of the ways to do so and help us in that is turbulent times.

“Only when it’s darkest you can see the stars”  :)

I’ll tell you a personal experience I’ve been through and that was really a turning point in my life…

Last year, I made it in becoming the president of one of the activities we had in college… I wasn’t very experienced specially in such post and such huge responsibility.

I was very excited, ambitious, had lots of plans but very anxious… I was, yes, hard worker and had some leadership background but yet somehow an emotional amiable person.

I formed the team and started working…

Days passed and we faced big troubles… most of them hit me whether professionally or personally… It was a big strike and I felt like been hit on the head, so down and so broken…

I've could let it go… I’ve could surrender and just walk away… but I didn’t! My sense of responsibility and fighting spirit didn't let me do it!

I decided to go for it! It’s my battle! And Heroes don’t just give up!

By chance I was listening to a lesson for Dr Ragheb el Sergani which was talking about trouble times, saying that ALLAH is raising us!

It gave me huge push…

I completed my way and ended up being a completely NEW person!

Although it was a tough and not very good year, it was the most fruitful time! As I learned so much and discovered so many things about myself I could never imagine they exist! I’ll forever be thankful for those times because they made me WHO I am today…

 So, truly, Turbulent times are a blessing…

And by your beliefs, you’ll act! So NEVER let your limiting beliefs hold you back. And at the end insha’ALLAH, I’ll tell you how to destroy a limiting belief!

Now, let us see what those 5 letters “SPARK” mean…

LWT people are like the stars, they are real sparks in all they do…

They are those who, like bright lights, show others a clear hope and hopeful way…

S: Speak Honestly and Positively

The leader is a ROLE MODEL… And from the very essential and important traits in a role model is “WALK THE TALK”! Say what you mean and Mean what you say!

One of the most important parts of showing leadership is to be committed to speak honestly, share accurate information, hope and an inspiring vision to scared people and organizations.

Words have much power but we actually forget that!

Your words can show people possibilities they never knew!

Your words can make people happy about themselves or could break them down!

Your words can activate people to break their limiting beliefs and behaviors and work brilliantly during the most stressful days!

Unfortunately, people think that speaking tough and negatively will get big results but they just can’t see that they’ll get much more with speaking to encourage and inspire.

I’ll tell you a situation that happened with me that proved that words have a HUGE influence…

I was a leader once on a team and I had a member who wasn’t very productive although he’s a wonderful person with a lot of potentials, so I decided to talk to him.

We met and we stayed talking for more than 2 hours continuously!

I spoke to him honestly and I told him that I really do believe in him and that I expect a lot of him and I can see his great work and future.

The meeting after that conversation, he was changed 180° and he became one of the most active and productive members I had!

The words coming out of your mouth shape the words coming out of others’ mouths because YOU LEAD BY EXAMPLE!

And an important thing is that your words influence not just others but also your state! They affect your mood and physical state! Try to notice if you spoke out loud and said “I’m Happy”! you’ll find your head and shoulders up high and smiling :)

So please, let’s take care of our words and as our prophet Muhammed Said (PBUH):

" الكلمة الطيبة صدقة" & "من كان يؤمن بالله و اليوم الآخر فليقل خيرا أو ليسكت"

P: Prioritize

“First things first” said Stephen Covey…

During this time of continuous change, we can easily get distracted from our vision, mission and goals…

But leaders stick to them. They stay CENTERED upon what’s truly important! They have SELF & VISION-MISSION DISCIPLINE!

FOCUS… FOCUS… FOCUS…

Develop a BURNING DESIRE to do great work…

It helps you to express your absolute BEST!

It turns your FEAR into POWER & your WEAKNESS into EXTREMELY POSITIVE STRENGHTES!

And Put this statement in front of your eyes….

“You can be great at climbing ladders but what if your ladder was leaning against the wrong wall?”

That’s why we have to think wisely – as we said at the very beginning – about what our role and vision in this life is.

Have self awareness and know your priorities and finally have an execution intelligence to strip away anything else!

There is a concept in business called “80/20”… it states that I can get 80 % of the work I want done by focusing on the 20% most important things! And that’s exactly what we want and talk about in here!

I’ll end this part up by 2 simple things but yet very important for every single one of us to do..

To have some self awareness, there is a simple way called SWOT analysis…

S: Strengths, W: Weaknesses, O: opportunities and T: Threats..

Grab a pen and paper and write them down…

Take your time and think with yourself 1st and then ask your family and friends to do it for you…

It’s very effective! Do it every once and a while… make yourself a plan for development and you’ll see the difference :)

The 2nd thing is a small exercice to know your priorities

Imagine yourself going to a trip to another planet. This planet has the food and land where you can live! And you are only allowed to take 10 things in this trip!

Now grab your paper and pen and write them down…

After that, The captain of the rocket ship came and told you we need to decrease the weight, so please make them 5 things not 10!

After you finish writing those 5 things… write down what do they represent for you!

Ex: “books” represent “Self development”

P.S.: Do this exercise with full concentration because it’s not easy :)

There is no right answer! It’s all about you! :)

I’ll leave you, till next time we meet, to think about your SWOT analysis and your priorities and believe me, you’ll be amazed!  

To be continued….