Are you a leader?
"People ask the difference between a leader and a boss," said Theodore Roosevelt. "The leader works in the open and the boss is covert. The leader leads and the boss drives."
A leader is defined by two major qualities:
1. A leader is out in front, in whatever industry, activity, or endeavor he or she is engaged in.
2. A leader has someone following him or her.
If you don't have followers, you're probably not a leader, or if you have to force people to follow you, you're probably more of a manager, less of a leader.
Great leaders pick up followers automatically, usually without even trying.
Why then do people follow great leaders?
I believe the main leadership quality most people recognize is the power to inspire. A great leader helps you to see a vision, and inspires you to want to achieve that vision. Harry Truman, never a man to mince words, defined leadership in a fairly blunt way: "Leadership," said Truman, "is the ability to get men to do what they don't want to do, and like it." A great leader makes people want to excel. She or he brings out the best in people, helps them to become better, and motivates them to achieve goals, desires, and personal and professional growth.
A leader is a visionary; a clear-thinker; a far-thinker. A leader is a motivator; a commander; an action-oriented, goal-seeking person who helps others to become so.
Our world depends on the leaders of the world. They have a disproportionate effect on the events of the world. Leaders make names for themselves because they do something with their lives. Leaders respect their followers, they give them credit where credit is due. They inspire people to create, not force them to work.
"You do not lead by hitting people over the head," said Dwight D. Eisenhower, himself a master leader of men and women. "That's assault, not leadership."
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