Dare to Be Great
While flying to the Midwest from Seattle, I made sure to book a window seat. I never tire of watching the country slip past below me. I always try to guess where we are but I’m usually clueless – unless a bored pilot calls out a landmark or we fly over Denver or pass near something really big or distinctive that I recognize. Then a few minutes later I’m lost again.
This day was different. I recognized three places in a span of 15 minutes. These are special places I visited where only a few have ever been. I never get tired of that either – doing things others don’t think of, don’t care to do or don’t dare to do.
Most likely you have your own list of places, activities or achievements that stand out. You can think of times when you broke out of the crowd and did something remarkable. These three are places like that.
The first is a small, uninhabited island in the middle of a big lake. I once stood on that island’s beach and scaled the peak at the center of it. The second is a dam control house capping a thin steel tower rising a hundred feet above the waters of the reservoir bridged by a narrow causeway leading to a locked door. I’ve stood inside that little house and looked out the lone small window across a stretch of open lake and tree-lined shore.
The last is a bone-white sandbar a half-day’s canoe trip along a roadless stretch of the Columbia River. I camped there with a group of fellow trekkers while researching a story for a well-known travel and modern living magazine.
These experiences remind me that leaders sometimes need to go where others don’t think to, don’t care to, or don’t dare to go. They remind me that, as a leader, you can dare to be great and really make a difference. These exceptional places also remind me that leadership is special. It’s a sacred trust of the lives, hopes and destinies of others. And to do it right you need to lead for the right reasons.
Unfortunately, some may aspire to leadership solely for the prestige, power, recognition, or money. By themselves, these are all bad reasons to become a leader – or at the very least, not enough.
Great leaders lead to serve, to inspire those they lead and to grow the enterprise they are building together. Great leaders invest in themselves and their teams. Great leaders cast vision and then help the team obtain the tools, training and resources to turn the vision into reality. Leaders like these dare to be great. You can be one of them.
When you lead for the right reasons, aspiring to leadership is a high calling. Using your leadership abilities, skills and experience to help your team excel at work that’s worth doing is both noble and honorable. Financial rewards, recognition and influence will follow. And you’ll have the satisfaction of achievement earned with integrity.
Best of all, when you lead for the right reasons, you can achieve special things others don’t think of, don’t care to do, or don’t dare to do. And that’s worth daring to be great.
About the Author
Karl J. Newman is a Featured writer for the John Maxwell Team Blog. He is an executive leader and influential communicator who develops effective solutions to business and organizational challenges. As President & CEO of several successful companies, he has real-world experience doing what he teaches. Karl brings you far more than theory and concepts. He brings you customized real-world solutions you can turn into results – both in your own life and across your organization.
Contact Karl at : http://www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/karlnewman/