Lead Courageously

I've been tossing around some ideas for this week's 'blog and I have absolutely no desire to write any of them down.

It's not so much that I don't want to write at all, it's that I'd rather write about a million other things besides this because, frankly, I don't feel qualified to speak on the subject.

I am, as of this writing, a broke art major behind on his bills with a dead-end job and $30,000 in student loan debt.

What the heck do I know about leadership?

If we define leadership as running a successful company or commanding an army or guiding people to the top of Mount Everest, then I guess I don't know the first thing about it.

But I don't think that's what leadership really boils down to.

Leadership is not about telling people what to do or wearing a special uniform or being "the top guy."


Leading is about doing what you are uniquely positioned to do.

And more than starting companies or winning battles or telling other people what to do and how to do it, there is one thing that I am infinitely qualified above and beyond any other person on the planet to do: 

Make decisions about how my life will operate.

Whether I keep my apartment within a reasonable margin of cleanliness and organization or let it smell like farts and dirty laundry doesn't depend on my girlfriend's actions or what decisions she makes today.

Whether I stay up playing League of Legends or go to bed at a reasonable hour so that I can wake up in the morning with time enough to eat breakfast and take a shower can't be blamed on League of Legends.

Whether I budget my money so that I can get what I want at the grocery store and fix meals at home or spend money I don't have on fast food that isn't nearly as good as it is convenient is totally my call to make.

Why?  Because it's my apartment, and my time, and my money.

There's a temptation to believe that if my decisions don't impact millions of people across the globe, then I'm not really a leader or my decisions don't really matter.

But that's a lie.

John Maxwell says leadership is a spectrum.  On the one side, it's your title that makes you a leader.  On the other, it's your reputation.

If you're using a title to validate your authority ("...because I'm the boss and I said so!"), the only reputation you'll ever have is for being a jerk and a bully.

On the other end, if you build a reputation for being responsible and doing the right thing, what label you operate under doesn't really matter.

So the question isn't "Am I a leader or not?"

It's "Which type of leader am I?"