@N01/52462054/" target="_blank">Photo by rhodes

“Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

If you have ever been on a farm you will have noticed how cow paths that zigzag across the land. These cow paths are create by cows, who  are creatures of habit and when one cow starts to walk across the meadow, the second one follows and the third and soon the rest follows. After a short while, the cows have created a cow path, a well-worn route from point A to B. One of the most noticeable things about cow paths, is that they zigzag and twist across the land, often going nowhere in particular. The reason for this is that cows like to keep their heads down when they walk, looking for blades of grass to eat.

The interesting thing about cow paths is a that once a cow path has been created to get from one place to another, the cows will continue to follow the cow path without question. No cow is ever smart or courageous enough to try a new, potentially faster and more efficient way to the same destination again. They will continue to blindly follow the same route time and time again.

Cow Path

One day thru the primeval wood
A calf walked home, as good calves should,
But made a trail all bent askew,
A crooked trail, as all calves do.
Since then three hundred years have fled,
And I infer, the calf is dead;
But still behind he left his trail,
And thereon hangs my mortal tale.

The trail was taken up next day
By a lone dog that passed that way,
And then a wise bell-weather sheep
Sliding into a rut now deep,
Pursued that trail over hill and glade
Thru those old woods a path was made.

And many men wound in and out,
And dodged and turned and bent about,
and uttered words of righteous wrath
Because “twas such a crooked path”
But still they follow-do not laugh-
The first migrations of that calf.

The forest became a lane
That bent and turned and turned again;
This crooked lane became a road
where many a poor horse with his load
Toiled on beneath the burning sun,
And traveled some three miles in one.

The years passed on in swiftness fleet,
The village road became a street,
And this, before the men were aware,
A city’s crowded thoroughfare.

And soon a central street was this
In a renowned metropolis;
And men two centuries and a half
Followed the wanderings of this calf.

Each day a hundred thousand strong
Followed this zigzag calf along;
And over his crooked journey went
The traffic of a continent.

A hundred thousand men were led
By one poor calf, three centuries dead.
For just such reverence is lent
To well established precedent.

A moral lesson this might teach
Were I ordained and called to preach.

For men are prone to go it blind
Along the calf paths of the mind;
And work away from sun to sun
To do what other men have done.

- Sam Walter Foss

Leaders by definition choose not to follow the well trodden cow paths of life. Instead they choose to blaze new paths, to pioneer and innovate, to do different things in different ways. If you’re following the herd through the cow paths of life… you’re not leading!

“If you don’t design your own life plan, chances are you’ll fall into someone else’s plan. And guess what they have planned for you? Not much.” – Jim Rohn

Reflect on your own life:

• Are you blindly following well-worn cow paths left by others?
• Are you blazing your own path?
• If you’re not blazing your own path can you be called a leader?

No related posts.

Jon Ferguson has a great post titled “You Know You’re Not Leading When . . .” that asks the question “Ever catch yourself not leading?” and provide the following check list.

You know you are not leading when . . .

• You wait for someone to tell you what to do rather than taking the initiative yourself
• You spend too much time talking about how things should be different
• You blame the context, surroundings, or other people for your current situation
• You choose not to speak the truth in love
• You are more concerned about being cool or accepted than doing the right thing
• You seek consensus, rather than casting vision for a preferable future
• You aren’t taking any significant risks
• You accept status quo as the way it’s always been and always will be
• You start protecting your reputation instead of opening yourself up to opposition
• You sleep a little too sound
• You procrastinate to avoid making a tough call
• You talk to others about the problem rather than taking it to the person responsible
• You don’t feel like your butt is on the line for anything significant
• You think what you say doesn’t matter
• You ask for way too many opinions before taking action

This is a great list. I think we have all, at one time or another, caught ourselves not leading. I know that I have. Two insights which struck me after reading this list:

1. To lead means we are out of our comfort zone, that we lead from the front, that we take risk, that we don not sleep a little too sound. We need to lead from the front. This means we go first, we push to the edge, we take the risk. What percentage of you time do you spend out in the front? What percentage of your time is spend outside your comfort zone? If it’s less than 10% you need to take action as soon as possible!
2. Leadership is not a matter of position. We are prone “not to lead” when we begin to rely on our position as “leader”, the fact that we are the manager or have the position of leadership. We must never forget that leadership is a choice. The moment we articulate a vision and take responsibility for achieving it… leadership begins.

Related posts:

1. How To Know When You’re Not Leading?

@N02/5133651520/" target="_blank">Photo by krystian_o

 People fail to lead when they act from the stance of a victim. People fail to lead when they act from a sense of helplessness. You have a victim attitude and are failing to lead if you recognise any of the following symptoms:

1. You take no action until you have satisfied that you have complete information. That you understand all the steps and risks involved. This means you fail to act and nothing happens.
2. You wait for authority and permission to act from those higher up on the organisational ladder.
3. You expect senior management to provide you with all the answers and the solution to your problems.
4. You place safety ahead of your vision.
5. You avoid conflict by not raising issues and concerns which need to be address for any real change to occur.

This is not a leadership attitude. Leadership happens when we make the decision that what is happens around us is our responsibility. One of the hallmarks of effective leadership is the willingness to accept responsibility, to become the change we want to see in the world. Truly empowered leadership occurs when an individual comes to the realisation they they are the problem! That they are responsible for the problems in their life, the frustrations they feel, for their responses to circumstances and for how they feel.

Leaders adopt an empowered response toward life, they do not allow life to just happen to them. They have decided to own their life and their future, by acting everyday to create the future they want. The have accepted their responsibility to act to make the difference.

• Do you have a vision for your life?
• Are you acting to create the future you want?
• Do you act as an owner of life’s circumstances and your future or more like a victim?
• Have you decided to begin the journey of learning how to act on your vision and create the future that you want?

No related posts.

“Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space lies our freedom and power to choose our response. In those choices lie our growth and our happiness.” – Stephen Covey, The 8th Habit

As leaders we can be given accountability, we can given authority, but we cannot be given responsibility. We have to take responsibility. Leadership is a choice we make. The attitude of responsibility, is a leadership mindset.  We do not become leaders because we have authority and are therefore accountable. We are leaders because of how we choose to respond. Leadership rests on our responsibility, on our choice, not on our authority.

Leaders take accountability, whether or not they actually have responsibility. Great leaders are not afraid to take responsibility for things that are out of their control. Leaders don’t wait for permission or for authority, before they take responsibility and act to make a difference. When a situation needs to be improved, leaders make the choice to take responsibility. They choose to make different choices, to take difference actions and change life’s situations.

• Have you made the choice to take responsibility?
• Where can you take responsibility for changing?
• What are the first few steps that you can take?

Related posts:

1. How leaders take responsibility
2. Leadership is a choice

“It’s a lonely road for those of us who choose to be remarkable, and the path of convention can sometimes be appealing. That path is paved with safe lives, middle of the road monotony, and little chance of failure. But where’s the fun in being like everyone else out there?” – Chris Guillebeau

I stumbled across a really great blog “The Art of Non-Conformity” by Chris Guillebeau, who has written a manifesto titled “A Brief Guide to World Domination”, it has really got me thinking and I encourage you to download a copy and read it. It will challenge your thinking and encourage you to greatness…

“If you want it badly enough, and are willing to make some changes in your life to cause it to happen, you too can take over the world… or do anything else you really want to do. Yes, you really can have it all. The only things you’ll need to give up are assumptions, expectations, and the comfort zone that holds you back from greatness.“

Consider the following “11 ways unremarkably average” from Chris’s manifesto:

1. Accept what people tell you at face value
2. Don’t question authority
3. Go to college because you’re supposed to, not because you want to learn something
4. Go overseas once or twice in your life, to somewhere safe like England
5. Don’t try to learn another language; everyone else will eventually learn English
6. Think about starting your own business, but never do it
7. Think about writing a book, but never do it
8. Get the largest mortgage you qualify for and spend 30 years paying for it
9. Sit at a desk 40 hours a week for an average of 10 hours of productive work
10. Don’t stand out or draw attention to yourself
11. Jump through hoops. Check off boxes.

Looking at the above list, how many of these ‘ways’ describe you? I think that if you find more than two or three, you need to read this manifesto! Can you clearly and succinctly answer the following two questions…

1. What do you really want to get out of life?
2. What can you offer the world that no one else can?

A true leader is an original, he is not and cannot be a copy! Download and read this manifesto, it will challenge and inspire you to be the change you want to see in the world…

Related posts:

1. Positive or negative: What world view are you creating?
2. Four principles leaders can use to guide employees through disconcerting change….