We have all been exposed to great leaders, good leaders, poor leaders and even terrible leaders.  It is easy to judge how others behave, react and lead people in and outside of work environments, especially those who have titles or positions that imply leadership. We can get caught up in hierarchy, chain of command, and titles. We are all guilty of spending too much energy on being frustrated with our “leaders”.  Whether it’s someone on an executive team at work, our direct boss or political figures in our world, we are really good at pointing fingers and being critical. All of this takes a good deal of energy, non-value add energy which we all know is never going to help reach any of our personal or organizational goals.  Imagine a world, or even just your work environment, where we each spent that energy on looking in the mirror and working on our leadership state of mind.

Yes, leadership is a state of mind.  It is not a title, a spot on an executive team, or a place in an organizational chart. It is a way of living, every day, inside and outside of work. We are all called upon to be leaders.  We all have it in us because it is a choice; it is not a skill or a gift. It is certainly not always an easy choice but one that once made will make great impact.

Leadership is an attitude. It is living and acting with a servant’s mentality. Great leaders think about the people before they think about themselves. They are reliable, approachable and team focused. Leadership is caring more about the people than about the results. The results will happen when the focus on the people and the relationships are put front and center. Why wouldn’t they?  Have you not given more for someone than for something? Are you not more motivated to do your best when you are doing it for someone in mind versus some metric?

So what choice will you make?  Will you aim for just a title, a position or some spoken authority?  Or will you focus on those around you by serving, caring, and living leadership everyday?

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