How Does Leadership Begin?

I have been interested in leadership for longer than I can remember. What sparked that?

People told me that I had leadership potential, that I could grow up to be a leader. I had opportunities to lead people. I read about leaders.

None of those were where leadership began for me.

My leadership was hidden deep inside me. I had been taught that the best way for me to learn to lead was by following other people. I was good at that, very good at meeting and exceeding other people’s expectations.

I began to look for my own leadership when I came to the end of all those expectations.

I began a quest to explore myself to discover the source of my leadership. I had already tried to read about everyone else, follow everyone else, learn from everyone else.

As I began to explore, I was afraid of what I might find. What if I were not as good as I thought I was? What if I did not have all that potential? What if there were no leadership in me at all?

My exploration is very hard work, more challenging than anything I have ever done. It includes incredible adventures, painful struggles, hard-fought battles, and astounding revelations. It is an amazing story, that still continues.

Each day is a new beginning.

What I have found, so far, is that my leadership comes from who I really am. Being a leader grows out of the values and principles I have had for as long as I can remember. My leadership puts my values into practice.

I am not a leader because I read a particular book or attend a certain conference. The spark of my leadership is within me.

Where does your leadership begin?

What are you exploring today?

[Image by Sadi Junior]