In life, it doesn’t matter where you’re coming from. The questions you should ask are where are you going and how are you going to get there. And aside from what you want to accomplish, what kind of person do you want to become as the result of all your work and effort? These are questions Brian Tracy asks in an article I read recently.
Men and women who achieve great things in life are invariably those who give a lot of thought to their own development and evolution. They become exceptional people by design, not by accident. They are like master craftsmen, continually shaping and polishing their characters and personalities so that they evolve and grow into someone important and worthwhile. And so should you.
As a chartered accountant and ground-breaker in business, one of the highest goals you can have for yourself and your personal development is to become a great leader – someone outstanding who is admired and respected by those around you.
Tracy says that motivational leadership is the ability to uplift and inspire people to perform at their best. Personal leadership, on the other hand, is the ability to motivate yourself to do the things – and be the kind of person – that make you into a motivational leader. Both are necessary for maximum performance. They are flip sides of the same coin.
The starting point for personal leadership, as well as motivational leadership, is to begin seeing yourself as a role model, seeing yourself as an example to others. See yourself as a person who sets the standards that others follow.
This month we are beginning the 2017 process of looking for 35 young CAs(SA) under the age of 35 who will form part of the finalists for the Top 35-under-35 competition, and it is motivational of leaders we are looking for. In the past three years since we’ve launched the programme the number of young, amazing leaders we have witnessed has never seized to astonish us.
Andile Khumalo, our cover profile this month, is also involved as a judge in the competition. He says: ‘This experience blew me away and was humbling to any presumption I may have had regarding my own achievements. I realised I was never this smart at age 35!’ Contestants came from across the full spectrum – entrepreneurship, the accounting industry and academia.
‘I found it a selfishly inspirational experience – I learned more from them than they probably did from me.’
So, if you are a young ambitious leader who deserves an opportunity to be recognised for your achievements, or if you know of someone who you can nominate, please visit https://www.accountancysa.org.za/35-under-35/ and get your entry or nomination in.
Editor
Gerinda Engelbrecht
