You Are a Leader

Posted by DJL on Nov 5, 2012 in Leadership | 0 comments

There has been a lot of talk in recent weeks and months about leadership. That’s to be expected, of course, as we approach the end of a grueling, intense, and important presidential campaign.

But now that we are at the end, I’d love for us to shift the conversation about leadership from our elected officials to ourselves. In particular, I’d love to take more seriously the role that each of us has to play every day as a leader – in the home, in our places of work and volunteering, in our congregations and communities.

I want us, that is, not only to look to elected officials to be good leaders – and to hold them accountable for being just that – but also to look to ourselves and to each other.

This isn’t necessarily an argument for “less government” (nor, I should add, for more). There are lots of things that only the government can do and lots of things that the government can do better or more fairly than individuals or private corporations. But there are lots and lots of other things that the government can’t do that you and I can. If, that is, we start thinking of ourselves not only as participants and followers – which at certain times and places we definitely are – but also as leaders – which at certain other times and places we are definitely called to be.

There are lots of great definitions of leadership, but one of my favorites is the simple and compelling definition offered by John Quincy Adams:

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.

So what will you lead today and who will you inspire?

Toward stimulating your thoughts on this question and the conversation on leadership I’d love for us to have, I’m placing below a 2-minute video that invites us to imagine what the world would be like if, first, we took ourselves seriously as leaders and, second, tried to be the best leaders we can be.

Notes: 1) If you are receiving this post by email, you may need to click here to watch this video.
2) I know next to nothing about Sagestone Partners and so can neither endorse nor disclaim their services. But I do appreciate this video the produced. ☺