I drove past a prominent fitness facility recently and thought about the rush to membership that always accompanies the new year with its resolutions to get in shape. By February or March these born again fitness seekers will be supporting the facility with their year-long memberships but not participating. It is ever thus…
Reminds me of leadership books, seminars, and courses. Seems everyone wants to be a leader, but few truly lead. Indeed if everyone is a leader, who follows?
Ultimately leadership is something one does. It’s “caught, not taught”. A leader simply gets into the fray and says,” Let’s go!”
Indeed, the world’s leaders are those who just show up. They learn by doing and inspire their neighbors. They take the hits and, as the Scottish poet Robbie Burns put it, “lay me down and bleed awhile, then get up and fight some more”. And they live with that knot in their stomach that witnesses to the push-back they get from the non-leaders who want things to remain as they were. For sure, leaders pay a price, but the fulfilment is worth it.
