Leadership Has Changed My Life

People tell me about the amazing experiences they have; the places they visit, the work they do, the books they read, the people they know, the music they love, the craft beers they taste. Some experiences are physical, some emotional, some spiritual, some intellectual.

They tell me what happens to them, and they say, “It changed my life.”

I know that if we pay careful attention, each experience has the power to change our lives. Each person, each place, each sensation is an opportunity to open ourselves to our own potential in new ways.

I also know that some things shape us much more deeply than others.

Leadership has changed my life.

The leaders who have inspired me have recognized the best in me. They have seen qualities in me that even I did not see, and helped me appreciate my own potential. They have helped me understand who I could become. Whether I have worked with them in person or read what they have written, they show me ways I can become that leader.

The leaders who helped shape me the most deeply were very good at appearing not to do anything. They let me believe that I was doing it myself.

My life has also been changed by being a leader. The people who have told me that I was a leader they wanted to follow have helped me see how much more room there was to grow. They have inspired me to share myself with them, and they have shared what we have learned together with other people.

I would have a very different life, under very different circumstances, without leadership.

Changing lives is what leaders do.

Whose leadership has changed your life?

How has becoming a leader helped you learn and grow?

[Image by MattysFlicks]