What does it mean when you don’t see yourself as a leader?
It means you’re not contributing all of your talents to your organization.
You’re suffering from self-doubt and you’re not having the impact that you could.
You’re not distinguishable from anyone else and that means you’re replaceable.
You know what you should be doing and that may be from preconceived notions that we’ve heard about what it actually means to be a leader.
You hear phrases like “They were born to lead” but you don’t feel that way about yourself.
If you’ve gotten to this point in your career, you need to read the rest of this post.
How to See Yourself As a Leader
Let’s first put away this notion that leaders are born and not made.
People are born as babies.
Leadership is learned over a lifetime.
1. Your belief system.
You must believe that you can lead.
You must believe you have the knowledge, skills, ability and values to lead.
I think you have all those things but it only matters how you believe in yourself.
If you don’t have the right belief system, you won’t have the right behaviors.
If you don’t have the right behaviors, you won’t have the right actions.
If you don’t have the right actions, you won’t have the outcomes you need.
So, what do you believe about yourself?
How do you focus more on your belief system? Read more!
Here are six books every leader should read.
Reading helps demystify what leadership actually is.
Leadership doesn’t develop in a day.
Leadership develops daily by what you believe and what you do.
2. Your passion.
What is a problem you see in the world or at work?
It could be hunger or homelessness.
It could be someone always leaving trash around or a high turnover rate at work.
You want something to be done, but no one’s done anything about it.
If you want to be a leader, you need to take action.
That means you have to do something.
Nobody’s going to give you a crown, corner office or the title of leader.
You have to show up and be a part of something that’s bigger than you.
Be a part of making a difference.
This is easy to do when you’re passionate about something.
3. Understand your ability.
You need to understand that you can be a great leader.
“Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
You can be a great leader because you can serve.
You’ve got to commit to helping other people.
Before you try to lead people, be a servant first.
The greatest among us are servants: nurses, doctors, firefighters, police officers, sanitation workers, and those that serve in our armed forces.
They’re all servants and people that are talked about through history.
There’s nothing stopping you from being great other than your willingness to serve.
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