“Things do not change; we change.” – Thoreau

 

Dear Readers: I’m taking a hiatus from writing new blog posts for a bit, so I’ll be sharing some of my most popular past posts over the next few weeks. Hope you enjoy this one – please share your thoughts in the Comments box below!

 

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While I spend most of my professional time these days as a coach for leaders and their teams, I wasn’t always comfortable with the idea of leadership.

 

Or more specifically, the concept of my own leadership.

 

You might have called me a reluctant leader.

 

As a young professional, I wasn’t exactly looking for leadership opportunities. Instead, they wound up finding me.

 

It started with people asking me to do something. Their sentences would start like this: “You know, have you ever thought of….?” Or this: “I think you’d be really good at…”

 

Half the time, I wondered if they were talking to someone else: maybe they were actually directing their suggestions to someone over my shoulder (…please, I hoped).

 

But they weren’t.

 

So, because someone asked me, I became the president of the state affiliate of my professional association.

 

I became president of the board of my food co-op, because someone asked me.

 

I became the supervisor to 10 of my former colleagues, most of whom were 20 years older than me.  Because someone thought I could, and suggested I apply for the acting position.

 

I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit for these opportunities. 

 

Sure, I thought I was competent, but who, me?   A leader?

 

Clearly, other people saw something in me that I couldn’t see.

 

And as I stepped into these and other roles, I slowly became the leader that others saw in me.

Why was I oblivious to what was seemingly obvious to others?

 

Maybe my problem was that I had a faulty view of what being a leader meant: omnipotent, all-knowing, and directive.

 

Now I know, as one of my mentors says, that a leader is someone who takes responsibility for their world.

 

Maybe I thought my voice didn’t matter, that I needed permission or approval, or that I didn’t have enough experience.  Now I know that even my smallest contributions can help make the way clearer.

 

Last weekend, as I guided 100 people through a deep discussion and discernment process, I can clearly see the leader I am now: willing, responsible and brave. 

 
Not waiting to be asked anymore, now I know I’m the leader others could see in me so many years ago.
 

Your Turn

 

When have you been a reluctant leader? How did you shift to being the leader you are today?

 

Leave a comment below, and join in the conversation.

 

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Photo credit: iStock

Things do not change; we change – Thoreau   While I spend most of my professional time these days as a coach for leaders and their teams, I wasn’t always comfortable with the idea of leadership.  Or more specifically, the concept of my own leadership. You might have called me a reluctant leader.   As a […]