It’s an age-old question, are leaders born, or can leadership be learned?
Growing up, I had always felt that leadership was permission-based as if someone had to actually give you permission to be a leader. What I discovered, though, that my theory wasn’t technically wrong, and that it is a permission-based thing. However, the permission doesn’t come from the outside, but within.
So what does it mean to be a leader, and how can you, no matter where you are in life, step outside your comfort zone and lead others?
The first thing is to stop believing that you don’t have what it takes to be a leader and to begin to look at it from a different perspective. You must stop telling yourself these three lies, and begin to believe that you actually already have what it takes to lead.
Lie #1 – Leaders aren’t made, they’re born. There have been a lot of studies on this exact thought, and the overall findings is that leaders aren’t born, but developed.
However, most leaders have four important traits: self-awareness, social awareness, self-management, and social skills. Now, if you feel you’re lacking in any of these areas, it still doesn’t mean your leadership dreams are gone forever. It just means yours may require a little more work.
All of these traits can be learned and developed, which will help you to become the leader you always dreamed of being.
Lie #2 – You need permission to create or lead anything. You actually don’t need anyone’s permssion to take a stand and lead something, but you do need to give yourself permission.
Many times when it comes to our jobs or even owning a business, we often wait for this imaginary person to tell us that we should be leading. But the truth is, that granted permission will never come, and it’s up to you to take control of your destiny. You can put your own stake in the ground and lead something with passion.
Lie #3 – You need to study leadership for years before you can consider yourself a leader. We need to stop overthinking leadership. Yes, leadership can mean Braveheart’s William Wallace leading the troops into battle. However, it can also be something small, like leading the clean-up effort at your local park.
If your action inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more
John Quincy Adams
you are a leader.
Are you passionate about something that you would like to inspire others to be passionate about too?
Is there something you would like to see changed, but you’ve been waiting for someone else to step up and make it happen?
Do you have an idea that you would like to run with, but you’re just unsure if you should really be the one to do it?
If you’ve answered yes, to any of these, then stepping into that moment and taking the lead, is just the beginning of your leadership journey!
It’s not about someone telling you that you were made to be a leader. It’s about feeling passionately enough about something that helps you push others to be better versions of themselves that can help you become a leader.