Being a leader

It’s not an easy job to do. Being a leader. At home, at work, sometimes amongst a group of friends for mundane decisions.
When you sign up to take charge and give direction to a journey, you sign up for criticism & brickbats. Your abilities are judged, your common sense is questioned, your credibility to just be in that position is constantly examined.

We hear so much about how to be a better leader, the traits of a good leader, empathy, large hardhearted, listener and so much more. There are so many stories around the world about great leaders and mediocre leaders. Leaders who rose to meteoric heights only to come crashing down, because of a single failure.
We just lost a great leader from the cold-war era, Mikhail Gorbachev. He was a great leader, instrumental in ending cold war, but his nation failed and split into pieces. Does he become a ‘not-so-good’ leader then?
No amount of books,education or academia prepares us for leading from the front, in the real world. This is the age of startups. Young kids in 20s exhibit great ‘leadership’ skills. What does this all say about leadership?

Running the affairs of a home, managing a corporate conglomerate or governing the affairs of a nation, there are multitudes of leaders. Each with their own set of skills, techniques, methods and ideas. No one mantra fits in all situations. Yes, there are likely to be some common denominators, having said that each place and situation is unique.
A successful leader in one spot could become an utter failure elsewhere.

So what am I trying to say ? Just this.
Be a natural. Give your best in the given situation. Think but not over-think.
Give the right mix of selfless and selfish. Let your instinct guide you in every situation. You may win, you may lose, but you will have the kindness of the people who follow you - because you practiced leadership not just from your head but also from your heart.