Who is the Leader Within You?

Each of us can become a leader. Our challenge is finding the leadership potential within us and translating that potential into actions.

Some people take a focused, intentional approach to discovering their leadership. They learn as much as they can then try to apply those lessons in their own work. They may be ambitious, looking for opportunities to demonstrate their leadership abilities.

Some people relate to leadership in more intuitive, more organic ways. They trust their own instincts. They may appear to take leadership less seriously, as though they were less interested.

Other people may seem to want to avoid leadership altogether. They may experience leadership as a burden, as more trouble than it is worth. They may even refuse to take on what others think of as leadership responsibilities. They do not want extra duties to get in the way of doing a good job.

Each of us has our own, often unexplored, expectations of leadership. Some of us are passionate about doing leadership well, others are skeptical. We may be responding to people we have known or ways we have been treated in the past.

We often take our time deciding how we will follow a particular leader. Will we resist possible changes, or will we work hard to implement those changes? We get a reading of a leader, get to know them, and build a relationship. Our attitudes and behavior may be shaped by some fairly insignificant factors.

The leaders who inspire me also spend the time and effort it takes to know themselves well. They recognize their leadership grows from who they are, not merely responding to circumstances.

They need to know the leader within them before they can introduce that leader to other people.

What kind of leader lives inside you?

[Image by CarbonNYC [in SF!]]