True leadership is defined simply as influence.  There are many ways to motivate and spark, but true leadership enacts an attraction to the leader that makes a person WANT to take on certain heart wrenching scenarios and challenges… replacing fear with power.  There are leadership styles that are angry, scary, almost enforcer type… more of a “Boss” with a reputation of great results, and that can work I’m sure.  But true leadership, I believe, is in the ability to reach past the point blank negatives, find a crumb of truth behind the followers person-hood, and attach a dream and a promised path to a much larger and better future with cohesive cooperation and a passionate promise of integrity to match the effort of the follower blow for blow in getting them to where they want to be.  A true leader is fearless in their actual love for the success of others.  They have the ability to make people feel special, unique, important, and worthy in an authentic way.  They do not need all the recognition, or even alot of recognition… They LOVE IT when their people get recognized, and celebrated, as they deserve to be… more than likely they have overcome HUGE obstacles in hard freaking work and dedication TO THE TRUST THEY HAVE IN THEIR LEADER.  Leadership is getting people to do things they may have never done on their own.  LEADERSHIP IS EVERYTHING.

So how does one become a leader?

WE MUST BE SELFISH IN THE PURSUIT OF GREATNESS.. for a while.

I believe you have to have a track record worth following.  To ask someone to not quit or get uncomfortable, we must have done it first and lived to tell the successes of why those decisions were worth it.  We must not quit or fold FIRST.  We must sacrifice FIRST.  We can’t be broken, for once the leader is broken ENTIRE EMPIRES FALL.  It’s amazing to know how young I am in the business of building people and to see already the few that make it even here.  It’s even more inspiring to see CEO’s or pastor’s come into a dying organization, and within years have not only resurrected the dead, but multiplied the performance and even image of what was there before.  I hope to one day be able to affect that many in such a profound and dynamic way.

I believe a leader must be looked at as a target.  A target that everyone WANTS to beat… but shouldn’t be able to as the leader is always growing and doing so that if the gauntlet is ever thrown down in fun… NO ONE WILL BEAT THE LEADER WITH THE EXCEPTION OF A GREAT FOLLOWER… And in that rare instance, leadership takes on it’s true form in DUPLICATION.

A Great leader is in the duplication business.  A great leaders job is not to be the best.  But to recruit, hire, train, and PRODUCE the best.  A great leader should be able to replace his own worth at a company with 5 more that are better at the role the leader previously held… this will make the leader MORE VALUABLE.  Therefore the leader becomes irreplaceable… they can GET MORE by GIVING MORE.

How do we do the impossible?  We need influence, direction, and a promise from experience.  All we know is all we know, so to get to a new level of awareness, success, or anything we need new influence… this is why leadership truly is EVERYTHING.  I hope this finds you well, pray that I can keep my promise to the universe by building something truly unique and powerful in the service of everyone trying to get free.

Paul