Raising Leaders through High Demands

Leaders are the cornerstone of our world, providing guidance to our nation and people. Some suggest these esteemed leaders arose from high demands placed on them; others are convinced they were born as leaders. In most cases, successful leaders embraced challenges early in their life from high expectations given to them.

When you place a high expectation on strong-willed individuals, they tend to strive to meet the expectation. Psychologists called this "Rosenthal effect." For instance, if a teacher has a high expectation on a certain student, that student becomes more engaged than his peers. The teacher may talk to the student more often than others. All subliminal messages the teacher sent to the student challenge the student to raise up to become a better person.

Self-motivated people have the proclivity not to let others down. Unforeseen demands galvanize their motivation to try harder. There are many examples of inexperienced youngsters who were forced to assume the responsibility of a family enterprise due to their parents' early demise. Some ended up leading their company better than their parents did. They exemplify how ambitious goals could pave ways to inspired individuals into doing what they thought were impossible.

Understandably, most people prefer to work at their own pace. Dealing with incessant demands inundates their mental resources that they would rather step back to familiar tasks. A few, however, who prefer to exhaust their limits, feel a deep desire to overcome the challenges. Successfully tackling the adversities would evolve these individuals into someones capable of extraordinary feats.

In summary, while hard demands may demotivate people into giving up, people who survive them could raise up to be leaders. Anyone who argue that leaders are born is ludicrous because leadership requires perseverance in pushing oneself in uncomfortable situations. Difficult tasks bring the best out of people, which stimulate them to become leaders. Given the advantages of what demands could do to peoples, it is worth the risk of placing high demands on others.