Leaders are not born, they’re made
Legendary NFL coach Vince Lombardi once said, “Leaders are not born, they’re made.” While it sounds very cliché, it’s true. No one is born a leader. We all work our way up to become leaders. We had to develop skills, use our strengths, mitigate our weaknesses, and – most importantly – learn from our failures.
I recently read an article by Brendan Keegan in Entrepreneur where he explained four steps anyone can take to become a leader. The four steps are:
1. Acknowledge you are a leader
To maximize your leadership potential, you must acknowledge that you are a leader. Many leaders have self-doubt, but Keegan points out that it’s important that we ask ourselves how we can learn as leaders. We will all fail at some point. Failure is OK if we learn from it. What lessons can we take and how can we lead our team forward?
2. Ignore leadership myths
There is no special morning routine for leaders. Your personality type does not dictate how effective of a leader you will be. Leadership is a mindset that transfers into a skill. It’s easier for some and harder for others, but anyone can do it.
3. Take initiative
There are many ways to lead. However, to be a successful leader, we must take initiative. Keegan also noted that leadership isn’t just about the first step, it’s about the continued effort we take to better our product, service, and team.
4. Surround yourself with the right people
You can’t change the people around you, so change the people around you. Leaders have to surround themselves with people who are well-intentioned and intentional. We need to have other leaders who we can learn and grow from, but we also need to have a good team surrounding us. No leader is successful without support.
Ultimately, we weren’t leaders from birth. We were forged by experience. As leaders, we must continue to learn and develop skills to maximize our potential and the potential of those around us.