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| Sunday, 1 December 2002 |
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Just take two cases in recent history. In 1997 the world mourned the death of two of the most loved women of the world - Princess Diana and Mother Teresa. Their deaths occurred a week apart. One was the young tall and glamorous princess who circulated among the highest society of the world. The other was a small made elderly Christian nun who lived and served the poorest of the poor in India. In 1996 popularity poll published by the London Daily Mail Princess Diana and Mother Teresa were placed first and second respectively, as the world's most caring people. How did Princess Diana come to be regarded the same way as Mother Teresa who was a Nobel laureate. This would not have happened if Diana didn't have influence. She had demonstrated the power of the Law of Influence. Diana continued to influence people around the world even after her death. She is a classic case of one who had demonstrated the Law of Influence. As she started travelling and representing the Royal family around the world she quickly made it her goal to serve people and raise funds for charities. During the process she kept building very strong relationships with world leaders, politicians, entertainers, humanitarian workers and influential people around the world. Most of us will remember that Diana was first known as a spokesperson for charities, then she got into active fund raising and the latter part of her life she had increased her level of influence so she could make things happen. She took up the cause of AIDS prevention research, care for people with Leprosy and the Ban on Land Mines. It was Diana who was instrumental in bringing the issue of land mines to the attention of the world. A few months before her death, she convinced the then American President, Bill Clinton and his administration to support the Oslo conference on banning land mines. When she married Princes Charles, Diana had a title to address others but soon became a person of influence on her own right. In 1996 when she divorced Prince Charles, she lost her title but that loss did not diminish her impact her level of influence. Instead her influence continued to increase after her divorce, while the image o her former husband and her in-laws' declined. This is because Diana had understood the power of the Law of Influence in leadership. Very few of us would have characterised Diana as a leader, but that is what she was because she made things happen and she had a great following around the world. Many of us have misconceptions of leadership. We think that when someone has an impressive title or a designation that he or she is a leader. Very often that is not the case. Titles don't have much value when it comes to leadership. This is why many Politicians and Managing Directors of Companies have failed as leaders. True leadership cannot be awarded nor appointed nor assigned. It comes with influence and that can't be mandated. It must be earned. The only thing a title can buy is a little time either to increase your level of influence (like Diana) or to erase it. Today in our country we have examples of S. B. Dissanayake, Rauff Hakeem, Arumugam Thondaman, Milinda Moragoda and Velupillai Prabhakaran who have become very influential political leaders simple because of the influence they command. Even if they lose their titles tomorrow, they will still command a great influence that can change the future of millions of people. These current day political leaders of our country have demonstrated the power of Law of Influence. If you want to be a leader you must learn the art of influencing others to follow you. If you don't have influence, you will never be able to lead others. Ananda Rajapakse, South Asia Representative for Presidential Classroom Inc. USA organizers of the Future World Leaders Summit in Washington D.C. |
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| Produced by Lake House |
"He who thinks
he leads, but has no followers is only taking a walk." If you can't
influence others, they won't follow you. If they won't follow you, then
you are not a leader. No matter what anybody says leadership is influence,
nothing more and nothing less." This is the Law of Influence.
