RightToLead.com

Some people will tell you, if you ask them, that they think leadership is deciding on a plan of action and sticking to it, no matter what. Others will tell you it means taking charge of a situation and then handing out tasks so everything gets done right and by the set deadline.

What if that’s not leadership? What if leadership is less about handing out orders and sticking by a plan whether or not it works and more about working with people to mentor them and help them find their own path. I would argue that defining a leader today is much different than it was 5 or 10 years ago. In fact, I would say that inspiration is the biggest thing you contribute to a company or even a person when you become a leader.

While leaders are made, most are born. That sounds odd, doesn’t it? Well, the truth is we can’t all be leaders and not everyone wants to be a leader.

There are many responsibilities attached to leadership. No matter what anyone else is doing, when you’re the leader, you are in charge and the results you deliver, whether they’re good or bad, are a direct reflection of your work and efforts. Honestly, most people are genuinely scared of failure. Leaders are not.

Natural born leaders know that you miss opportunities and blessings when you avoid failure. Not that failure is something to strive for because it’s not. However, people who are trying to avoid failure, typically avoid doing things or taking risks in the first place. Did you know that Thomas Edison tried 5,000 times to invent a working light bulb before he actually created one that worked?

Do you realize that what that actually means is he failed 5,000 times? That’s a lot of failure and yet he’s known, as it should be, for his inventions, his light bulb.

Think of some well-known leaders or business owners. Let’s look at Donald Trump. He’s a business owner, a billionaire and a leader. He has also failure. Repeatedly. More than once his failure has cost him everything or nearly everything.

So what makes Trump special and why does he stand out? He’s a leader who believes in, and inspires the best in his people. He pushes people to excel, to get better at whatever they’re good at. He pushes them to risk failure because he knows that that’s where the greatest successes come from.

At the end of the day, people who inspire, people who take risks, people who are willing to try, and fail; those are the ones you want to follow because they believe in themselves, they take risks, they believe in their goal and they believe in other people and their potential. True leaders, the people who will get in the trenches with you, those are the people you should follow if you want to succeed. I am one of those people.