I recently had the opportunity to participate in a Leader Spotlight session for Leads and Directors from our offices around the globe. It was a chance for our newer leaders to ask our “more experienced” leaders about managing people, developing their teams and other leadership topics. I fall into the latter category, so I was on the receiving end of the questions. It was definitely a fun time, and I hope I was able to effectively share the wisdom that I have learned over the years. I have participated in these types of events before, so I was prepared to answer these questions; but there was one that really got me thinking. That question was: “When did you know that you wanted to be a leader?”
It would have been great if I would have had a really cool backstory to share about coming from a family with a long line of military leaders so I trained to be a leader from birth, but I didn’t. It would have been impressive if I could have regaled the audience with stories about how I led my high school sports team to a state championship and forged my leadership qualities on the field, but that didn’t happen. It would have been an attention-grabbing story if I could have explained how I started my own company in my parent’s garage, but that idea never got off the ground (it turns out cleaning all of the grease off of every part of a bicycle isn’t a great idea, that grease actually makes those parts work).
My answer to this question, was a little less dramatic. I said, “I really don’t know”.
Honestly, I don’t recall a singular moment where I decided that I would be a leader; but clearly, I have had an opportunity to be a leader over the course of my career (and some days I think I actually get it right). Since I didn’t want to leave my answer at just “I really don’t know,” I added that I felt that throughout the course of my career, I was presented situations that required someone to step up a lead, and I was in the right place and the right time to demonstrate my “leadership.”
I say right place/right time now, but some of those felt like I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Some of those instances were small inconsequential matters; but in retrospect those all started to add up. If I were to build a resume demonstrating my leadership from the start of my career, I think it would show spotty situations where I demonstrated some level of leadership. Over time those one-off situations became more common as people gained more trust in me, until, at some point, I became a fully recognized “leader.”
Shakespeare said, “some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them.” I think leadership is the same way. Some people are born leaders, some people train very hard to become leaders, and sometimes leadership is thrust upon you.
My challenge to you this time is to be a leader. Maybe you come by this naturally, and if that's the case, let it shine. Maybe you have studied leadership extensively, and if that is the case, put your schooling to work. For the rest of us, seize the moment. Step up when that situation presents itself. Take the lead on a project. Lend a helping hand. Champion a cause. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. Your path to leadership might not look like mine, but we can all get to the same path.
Onward and Upward
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