Become a leader | Dismantle the pedestals

We put the concept of leadership on a pedestal. There are leaders and then there are followers. We write long diatribes on how to become a leader. We make it feel unattainable. We make it feel bigger than it is. If you ask someone if they think they’re a leader, you’ll likely be met with a bashful response or an outright denial. Admitting leadership feels boastful.

And yet if you really think about people who have led you to change the way you think about or do things, you’ll probably find that a good number of those prolific moments were actually quite simple. A few words that made you think, a way someone handled a situation that made you take notice, something they did that made you ponder, “That’s so simple – why can’t I do that?”.

Not long ago I wrote a little story of inspiration about a conversation I had with my Opa that sparked me to rethink my life & business priorities. That post then inspired two people who read it to make a change in their lives. One emailed me to say that he was motivated to follow his dream, leave his job and start his own business (and he did). The other told me that she realized she wanted to go back to school to become a vet – a career she’s been passionate about since she was a little girl.

Not every moment of leadership has to feel earth shattering. Dante once said: “A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark”. It’s a mantra we all need to start believing.