The 'D' in Leadership

I have often heard people talk about discipline and getting to the top with it if I have an eye for the top. Though one cannot over-emphasize discipline, there is need to tread cautiously when relating Leadership with Discipline. From the dictionary, Discipline can be said to be the “Training of the mind and body to produce self-control, control gained as a result of training the mind and body, method of training”. It is the process of chastising or restraining one’s self in order to attain a goal or target that has been set for the greater good.

From the Chinese, “The energy of the mind is the essence of life”. How well a person is able to make good use of the energy that his mind possesses and every opportunity that comes his/her way, and how well the energy and abilities are channeled in the right way to solve problems is a function of the level of discipline the person operated at.


For leadership to blossom and grow effectively there must be discipline on the part of the leader as well as the people being led. Bearing in mind that no human being is perfect, the leader or anyone aspiring to be a leader must continually take charge of himself first of all before he can take charge of other things. Discipline is one of the basic qualities that makes a leader.

A person with great difficulty in controlling his/her appetite for food will have challenges spilling over to other areas of his/her life not just regarding food alone. Also one who cannot control him/herself when the opposite sex is around will have big challenges and problems controlling other areas of his/her life. A person with an insatiable appetite for money and material things aspiring to lead in any area of responsibility whatsoever will make a mess of him/herself, the resources available and the people he/she is leading.

With the understanding that leadership is a process and not ability, every leader or aspiring leader must accept the need to continually discipline his/her mind and in turn all other aspects of life. A person with the ability to discipline him/herself, but does not do so, will eventually turn out to be a person of indiscipline and cannot be a leader. That a man has the ability to jump or run the fastest time in the world but does not activate or get the opportunity to activate the ability or show it does not make him the fastest runner in the world or the best jumper.

Though discipline is a gradual process, constant efforts need to be made so as to attain the level of discipline needed to be the leader one needs to be.





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