Good morning!
Today I want to debunk a common myth about leadership. Many people believe that in order to become a leader, you must have a team following you.
This couldn’t be further from the truth.
A title does not signify leadership. A true leader doesn’t wait for the authority of leadership to present itself before they start to effect change wherever they are currently.
Great leaders don’t sit back. They take action.
Today you will learn the secret sauce to leadership: Influence
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
– Barack Obama
We undoubtedly live in an authority-based culture, in which certain positions are given power and responsibility, whether earned or not.
However, we all know that positional authority alone is not sufficient for effective leadership. A true leader must inspire confidence in their troops and this is where influence enters the picture.
“Influence always outpaces authority.”
Through influence, you can inspire change even when you don’t have the authority to do so. Leaders who consistently leverage their authority to lead are far less impactful in the long term than leaders who leverage their influence.
So, how do you lead with influence? By being a living example of the impact you are trying to create in others. In other words, practice self-leadership.
You’re exercising self-leadership every time you’re on time, every time you stick to a commitment, every time you study anything for your own benefit, and every time you finish an exercise or a class. All of your tiny decisions, made when no one else is looking, are demonstrating (or disproving) your ability to lead others in the future.
Never forget, even if you are not in charge of other people right now, you are ALWAYS in charge of yourself.
Keep going!
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