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“The question isn’t who is going to let me; it’s who is going to stop me.” - Ayn Rand
As people we are designed to choose. Like many other things in life, leadership too is a choice we make. . We do not become great leaders because of our title or position. Leadership is about making the decision and taking the responsibility to bring our future into the present. This first step to becoming an effective leader… it is the choice to be proactive.
The question is “have we make the choice to lead?” Although you may think of yourself as a leader, until you choose leadership you will find yourself drifting around aimlessly. Lacking passion, commitment, courage and direction.
We don’t usually choose not to lead, we simply choose not to get involved. We choose to be neutral and not to participate. We choose to simply observe from the sidelines, choosing rather to be an observer of life rather than a liver of life!
Unless we make the choice to lead… we we will fail at leadership…
- We fail to choose to leadership when…. we choose to take action by what seems possible or reasonable. We have chosen to live with the constraints of the circumstances. We have chosen to surrender.
- We fail to choose leadership when…. we do not to choose and rather wait to see what happens.
- We fail to choose leadership when… we do what everyone else seems to be doing and follow that route.
- We fail to choose leadership when… we eliminate all other options and follow the one that seems to have the best chances of producing good results. This is usually the safe and risk free option. It’s also the mediocre option.
Many of the “choices” listed above are the result of living a passive and mediocre existence. Leadership is never a mediocre response to life. Leadership is inspired and passionate. In fact, the choice to lead requires passion, there is a clear relationship between leadership, passion and action. The more passionate you are the more proactive you tend to be and passionate people initiate action. Passionate people make things happen. Passionate people don’t wait for others form ‘permission’ to lead, they make the choice and take leadership.
- Have you made the choice to lead or are you waiting for someone to give you permission?
- Have you made the choice to lead…. or are you just going with the flow?
We were not created to watch from the sidelines… we were made to get involved… to lead… Remember that we first we make our choices… then our choices make us. If you don’t choose to lead, you will be used to accomplished the vision of someone who has made the choice to lead.
Decide today!
Technorati Tags: Choice, Leadership, Management, Business, Attitude
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I think what grabbed me was the “living a mediocre and passive existence” - Who wants that? So either you step into leadership or you kind of are a wartish being. We choose to abdicate our natural place in the world.
Although it seems that our default mode is to be passive and “let the other guy handle it” - leadership calls us to act at our highest level of functioning.
Thanks for this blog. I am going to refer to it in mine soon.
Wow. Really great post. Choosing to be a leader is a very courageous path to take. And you are right, it is a conscious, deliberate choice. Not everyone is cut out for this path though.
Nice article. Indeed, if we choose not to lead, we fall into the vision of another who took the chance and made the decision to lead.
The true challenge of leadership is to step up and let your passion flow. How we decide in each circumstance will determine whether we become leaders or remain as followers.