Great Leadership Requires Knowing Ourselves

While many authoritative figures take the baton and push forward, true leaders take the baton and are pulled forward. It’s as if there is more than an objective obligation to move forward and lead the team to the finish line. It’s a calling. It’s a MUST to keep moving.

And to many, these people seem to do what they do so seamlessly, and we trust them to lead us. But there is no doubt that they took the time to get to know themselves in order to do what they do seem so… natural.

When something comes or feels natural it’s much easier to stream through the task because the purpose pulls us. We answer the calling and let it pull us, allowing us to refactor where the next node of our attention should be. Whereas if we push and push, we fight with external factors, exhausting our attentive resources. And we know how valuable attention is.

That’s why a great Leader is prepared by getting to know their own selves first, and then leveraging their character –consisting of beliefs, habits, and so much more– to accomplish the task of leading.

For example,  one of the greatest leaders who knew who she or he was led with his or her peaceful character.  Surely we can think of a couple, right?   Those leaders knew who they were at a profound level that no matter how provocative their antagonists were, they kept their cool and created an impact in the world. Such examples are as follow:

Here’s another example:

“I am the greatest!”

Sound familiar? That’s because it was Muhammad Ali who said it. He emphasized his focus on his own training to become the greatest rather than worry about his opponents.

He spent his mental energy on himself and only sought to improve his performance, not focusing on the opponents he faced. He knew who he was at an extremely profound level and trained vigorously to become the greatest, leveraging his character to inspire behavior. Inspiring people seemed so natural that he was also able to focus on speaking to many people, even while he awaited trial. It goes to show that both his athletic profession and life outside of the ring caused great controversy but an even greater, positive impact by being a role model, especially to those who needed to see someone with a conviction so pure that it manifested in his endeavors to become the greatest at what he did!

Likewise, as Leaders, we must know ourselves because our bodies, our minds, brains, emotions, and spirit are ours to begin with. We have the home court advantage from the start! No one is going to get a better, more optimal chance of knowing who we are than ourselves. And once we start diving into the waves of what makes us who we are, then only then will it seem so seamless what we do because we will be applying our attention into nodes that will put us one step ahead of where we would be if we didn’t. When any obstacle comes our way, we must know how to leverage our character to best handle those obstacles.

That’s  why, as Leaders, we must strive to learn about, understand, and believe in ourselves, because we are ultimately responsible for the behavior we inspire AND the people we take care of.

As Leaders, we must keep our faces to the sunshine, while knowing our own shadows;
as Leaders we must understand the means that exist within for the ends we seek;
For, as Leaders, that’s how we become the greatest in our own lives and in the lives -the hearts- we touch!
Great Leaders inspire.

🔴 Be Empowered, my friends.