Who's going to lead?

If we want something done, we look for someone to lead the way. If we want a better situation in our province/country, we elect a new leader. If we want to hire an employee in a supervisory position, we try to assess the candidate in their leadership skills. Leadership is so important to us, yet some of us think that we were not meant to be leaders. 

I remember my first slow dance with a girl. The big question, in my mind - how was I going to lead, if I don't know what I'm doing? The answer was simple to a scared 12 yr old: Take control, go first, don't look nervous, make it so awesome that the girl has fun.

Today we buy leadership books. We talk about needing more leaders. We desperately want to be led somewhere. Yet, I'll suggest that most of us have all the necessary leadership skills already inside of us. 

Parent = Leader

When I was a kid, there were rules in my house. If I broke them, I was punished. I didn't make the rules. My parents made the rules. I know today, they used a set of modified parenting skills, that they learned from their parents. So although in the workplace some would not think of my parents as leaders, didn't they lead their own children? If you have kids, aren't you leading yours? 

Leadership Steps:

1. Take control

2. Go first

3. Don't look nervous

4. Make it fun

The problem some leaders get into is the control part. As a parent, we create rules and consequences to instill skills within our child. I hate being the bad guy but I know I'm doing it from a place called love. If the control becomes too suffocating, the fun part won't exist. It's the fun part that keeps the follower engaged. It's the fun part that gives you power as a leader. It's the reason the followers haven't tuned you out.

We are all leaders. Some of us lead a couple of people, and some of us lead thousands. The steps don't change, they get more complicated with more people.

Think about those four leadership steps the next time we need to be a leader. The results will astound you, just like it did to a 12 year old boy.

Light the way!

"I suppose leadership at one time meant muscles; but today it means getting along with people".

- Mahatma Gandhi