As Boogie walked the streets he noticed everyone glaring at him. Women, men, officers, children, animals, rocks. They all looked on in amazement. The Boogster stood there. He knew what the people wanted. 

He motioned his hand out as if summoning the Gods of above. In one swoosh motion a soap box fell from above. He stood on it tossing his cigarette to the side.

"In this thing of ours we throw the word LEADER around a lot. But I come to YOU. The people of this beautiful Thing Of Ours.

What exactly is a LEADER?

Is it the elegant attire of a bold suit? Is it the ability to have basically, by authority, 30-120 yes men running around? The SAUCE to sit back and collect taxes? Listen, Jimmy from across the street, there are no wrong answers in life. But if you agree that the things of that magnitude makes you a leader then maybe, just maybe silly rabbit, you need to re-evaluate your life. 

Let's take a little history check. How many people in this thing of ours were granted "leadership" but aren't remembered? That's right. Too many to count. Allow me to enlighten you.

CHARISMA a.k.a SAUCE

Every great leader has this characteristic. Image is obviously almost everything. The first thing a person sees when they enter this thing of ours is your bold suit. But what's next? The things they hear out of your mouth. One of the main things of being a leader? FORCING people to do the things they don't want to? No. That's a dictator. Instead, having the ability to have people do things they would normally double take. Things they would normally frown upon but instead they say to themselves, "Geezalou! He's so cool I'd eat boogers off a pile of shit if he said it was the right thing!" Yes Jimmy. The gift of the gab. Being able to talk to the masses not with force, but with elegance. People have to believe in you. Believe your product. Believe your mission. Believe your "facts". Believe your image. Are YOU someone the people secretly say in the back of their head when they notice you "He could definitely fuck my wife for me". No? Anyways, you need to ooze sauce. I believe all leaders have mastered this trait.

FOCUS

You need to know where you're headed along with a strong stated mission to drive people towards. Too many times we've heard the old saying 'Lead by example'. Well dammit whoever coined that phrase... give that man nothing short of a blowjob. Words couldn't have been any truer. Why should I follow someone who doesn't put in maximum effort? If I'm putting in more time, more grease, more sizzle, more everything than you; Why should I listen to you when you tell me to work harder? Fuck off ugly! When I look outside of my HQ room's window, you slamming your car door heading to handle your business way before I can process what the fuck is going on should be the reason why I'm up. I need to be able to look in front of me when we're climbing that mountain of success and see the person I call LEADER is going way harder than me. Is sweating way more than me. Has more scabs and bruises on their knees than...err wrong paper! You get the point. When the LEADER looks back at me to give me that look of assurance, I can always say, "Damn maybe I shouldn't be complaining because he put in 80 hours this week". You have to work so hard that your followers feel empowered. Emboldened. 

CONFIDENCE

First things first. If you don't believe in yourself I'm 100% sure no one will. That's something your mother should've told you. Same way no one wants to follow the boring? No one wants to follow the spineless. You need to have enough confidence to be STERN. What I mean is this. If there's a decision to be made, there are many of people who will be looking your way Jimmy. You can't stand in the middle of the room with sweaty pits & a speech that sounds like a broken record.

"What are we gonna do about Johnny Two Shoes, Boss man?"

"Errrr....I don't knoe Raggy.."

You're supposed to have the decisions before they even have a chance to disrespect you by thinking they can open their stink fat lips without permission and ask questions!

To backtrack on spineless. This thing of ours is a very gloomy, conniving business. Many come in the form of snakes. There have been many times I'm sure mafioso tried to sway the decision of a leader. Well guess what Jimmy? The moment you allow someone to sit here and sway your decision? You are no longer the fucking leader! You are now a puppet. I can give two farts who thinks what or contributes what ideas. At the end of the day, the LEADER, the BOSS, has the final say so.

This is a world of many squares but of even more circles. It goes round and round and round and...you get the point. I'm sure there were times when a LEADER had a longtime lineage friend in their crew/city. 

"Hey bro, what's up with a auth".

Any spineless bimbo would automatically be the goofball to grant them auth. But a REAL LEADER understands that he needs to have the confidence to make a decision and tell them no if they're undeserving, not good for business, or simply have others that deserve the opportunity. Confidence is key my friends.

SUPPORT

In any language in the world please show me where there's a "I" in "TEAM". That's right! Because it doesn't fucking exist. There is no better feeling than to have your LEADER look at you and give you a compliment on the hard work. In fact, it feels so good I go to my room and masturbate after Roman...wait. Wrong notes again...

When someone is being rewarded, being noticed, getting pats on the back for their hard work what do you think is going to happen? It's like having a pet. Every time you reward your pet for doing the right thing...the right thing then becomes the norm.

Many so called leaders don't even interact with their followers, let alone compliment their efforts. Take a time out and think about the next thing I'm about to say. It's true that it's you who GETS YOU TO THE TOP. But more importantly, it's those around you that KEEP YOU AT THE TOP.

Drinks water.

I could sit here all day and contribute every characteristic but maybe another day. Long story short. A LEADER is everything that RomanReigns is.

But are YOU, the people other then him, a LEADER or a potential/already authed CREW LEADER. That'll be all today. Your welcome for lending me your ears."

And with that, Boogie steps off the soap box then continues to walk away with every female in the crowd.

Takes a quick sip of his scotch before responding

A leader can simply be defined as someone who is followed by others in order to accomplish a common goal or for a common purpose.  That’s it...

but what you are really asking Boogie, is what makes a leader “great?”

In truth, this question can be answered an infinite amount of ways - unique to each individual and their beliefs.  However, if I had to in some way encapsulate all the qualities of what makes a leader great, for better or worse; good or bad, it would include basic traits like courageous, bold, driven, and goal-oriented.  At the end of the day, men don’t follow titles - they follow courage.  

It’s not rare for one bold man on a path of action to suddenly find himself with a growing shadow.  People follow success and achievement.  A man or woman who is achieving their goals and objectives provide a sense of comfort and power to those who may otherwise feel powerless.  

So to your question, I think the answer can best be answered with this one phrase:

A (great) leader is someone who empowers others in achieving a common vision.  

Just remember, that sometimes that common vision can be an inherently evil one.  Not all great leaders, are “good” leaders.

There IS a difference.

No Valathus. I am NOT asking what makes a great leader. I’m asking people in this thing of ours what do they view a LEADER as. I’m not talking about the simpleton of a bold suit, or someone the people are forced to follow in the time being. No. Those are authoritative figures. I asked a question then gave examples of what I believed is a LEADER.

But in the end of your response you’ve answered it in your opinion. I’m hoping we can gather more opinions. Thank you Valathus.

When hearing you speak, Boogie, I tend to agree with you. Though to be honest, I kinda miss the bridge between your interpretation of a leader’s confidence and their ability to appreciate their followers. For me a leader becomes truly efficient at the crossroads of those two things. In how I interpretted your words, the appreciation of one’s followers feel like giving a dog a pat on the head for fetching a stick properly.

But to me a leader realises they’re great in what they do, but only to an extent. And that in turn, they dare to rely on the insights of others to actually influence their decision-making, rather than only applaud those that walk the path which they would’ve chosen as a leader. Every social system is ever-changing as time passes, it’s only reasonable that yesterday’s experience doesn’t compete with tomorrow’s innovation. For that reason, I’d say a good leader is not afraid to accept the positive criticism of a follower and does not feel challenged by it if it appears better than theirs. Of course, this assumes the criticism is given for the betterment of a leader’s organisation.

The social skills of a leader should ensure that these positive ideas or strategy that they themselves might lack don’t pose a challenge to their position, but within the organisation are celebrated as a win for everyone. In that sense a leader is not just rewarding who follow their example, but enabling others to shine in a manner that compliments themselves.

So yeah, I agree. A leader leads, by example. But a good one realises the potential within their ranks and pushes them to greater heights as well, for the benefit of all.

 

The buck don't stop at leader.

The phrase "This thing of ours"  is abused and overrated in a senseless way.  If this thing of ours was executed properly, there would not be a decline in business dealings. It has gotten awfully boring exercising what has existed for the last few years. And I say this with a heavy heart.

There's plenty of business for everybody. Why kill each other over it?

When will wars be wars?