One of the most beneficial personal traits one can possess is organization. Being organized allows one to have more focus concerning the activities of one's everyday life, both in the workplace and in the home. With proper organization, goals and tasks can be accomplished quickly and efficiently. Also, organization is something people recognize and appreciate in others; it depicts strong focus, a solid work ethic, and indicates a clear, straight-forward way of thinking.
Personally, I try to stay very organized, and it has served me well in group projects or other environments where people were depending on me. Does this mean that my room is always flawlessly clean? Or that I haven't occasionally lost things? Absolutely not. But by developing a method of organization, I rarely have either of those problems.
Perhaps it was my mother who influenced me in this way. Some would call her a neat freak (a trait of hers which, having seen the alternatives, I love), but she really only had two tricks when it came to keeping home and office: 1)Keep everything in its place, and 2) Clean as you go.
Proper cleaning (dusting, vacuuming, etc.) is something everybody should do on a regular basis, so for now I'm going to leave that one alone and focus on #1--keeping everything in its place. This means designating one particular spot for certain things, and sticking to it. I keep all of my extension cords, power adapters, and other cords/wires, for example, in one specific drawer in my room. This ensures that I will always know where to look for any of these items when the need for them arises, and that I won't spend half an hour looking for something. And by keeping the entire home like that, it's easy to keep things tidy--and especially easy to return things to a state of tidiness in a rush.
While those things refer to the more domestic areas of organization, the topic is one that extends into one's thought processes, activities, and endeavors. I'm not saying that people have to be neat freaks in order to accomplish the things they want to, but (speaking from experience) a bit of togetherness never hurt.
This especially applies to people in all areas of leadership. As a leader, being organized means being able to communicate clearly with all involved parties, knowing all of the important factors pertinent to the project, extensively planning ahead (for every contingency), and being able to recall or quickly access information when necessary. If the leader is organized, the whole group benefits--flourishes, even.
Which is why, I suppose, I get extremely irritated when people who don't possess these traits (as not everyone does, but I believe everyone can get there if they try) attempt to lead. I'm currently working on a project right now with a good friend who fits that description. It's unfortunate, really, because I really would like to be involved, and I believe I can bring a lot to this project. What kills me is the lack of communication throughout the entire project. Rarely do I receive communication directly from said leader; instead, I hear about group meetings (if and when they occur) and such simply by happenstance. I'm not asking for miracles, mind you, but let me know what's going on! Things about this project keep changing, nothing is really solidified, and I'm sourly awaiting that frantic last-minute phone call that always arrives in situations like this. It's odd, really, when, in this age of Facebook Group messages, MySpace nulletins, email list-serves, hell, even group text messages--communication from one person to a group of others should be a non-issue. All of this has led me to a lack of faith in the success and fruition of the project as a whole, and a lack of faith and trust in the leader--sad because we're friends.
Granted, this may be the first time this person has attempted anything like this, a situation with which I can certainly understand and identify. Personally, however, in that situation I would make even more organizational strides that normal, but to each his own, right?
My advice to people considering leadership--in any forum--is simple: If you want to take the reins, be sure you are able to handle them! And, please, please, please...
Keep it together!
Listen: Danity Kane - Hold Me Down
