Photo courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons (US Marine Corps)
Leadership is about people and about results. Good ones bring out the best results from the people. Great ones bring out the best in people, resulting to the best results. Organizations have risen and fallen because of their leadership or lack thereof.
Today, I want to introduce another type of leader – a humility leader. A leader that you only wouldn’t want to follow, but you’d like to be him or her someday. A leader that not only brings out the best in you, but inspires and empowers you to heights that you never thought you could reach. A leader that trains you for battle, but would take a bullet for you while you are on the field. A leader that you would only not forget, but you will always remember.
A humility considers himself an instrument of the vision he or she was given. This leader responds to the call of that vision. This leader is never about himself, but is always about the vision and the people. This leader knows that he or she is simply part of the process; is simply part of the story – story of the people’s individual and collective lives. More importantly, this leader is never the start or the end of that story.
Will the team get that $1 million quota sale? Will he or she solve the declining sale in Department X? Will the team meet the deadline?
This leader thinks about the target too, but his or her main concern is always about guiding and shaping the people to achieve it.
Like an archer, who is not consumed with the bull’s eye but trains oneself on how to guide and work with the bow and arrow. If he or she has learned that skill, the arrow will hit the bull’s eye without fail.
What sets him apart from other leaders is that this leader is an integral part of your stories and yours in their story. This leader is not just involved but immersed in them. This leader uses the materials of your life and his life to build the community towards the call this leader answers to. One of this leader’s greatest skill is the ability to turn something bad into something good; to use trash to become a best-selling product; to help the ugly find its beauty.
Maybe you haven’t considered leadership as one of your strong suits. You can begin where you are and grow from there. Begin by being yourself, and living with your heart to listen to your call. I’m sure you have both. In other words, you can begin now.
The life of passion is only possible for those who are able to, at very least, lead themselves. Passion has to be controlled. Otherwise, it will control you. Uncontrolled fire is why we call the firemen, but we don’t call them when we use a gas range.
Are you ready to meet the humility leader in you? Are you ready to change the world through your heart? Are you ready to live a life of passion?
Humility Leader series
Humility framework (the strength of the humility leader)
Bridges & Intersections 
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