Everyone is already leading — the question isn’t how to become a leader but whether you recognize and own the leadership you’re already exercising. When you smile at someone and they smile back, that’s leadership. When you complain to your spouse, that’s leadership. When you stay silent in a meeting, that’s leadership. “Everybody has an influence on their environment and therefore they’re leading.”
Joe distinguishes between the quality of leadership (a way of being present in all of us) and the assignment of authority (a title or position). Even three-year-olds exhibit leadership behaviors — watching kids play in a field, you see leadership moving naturally from one to another. Leadership is innate; the question is what kicks us out of it.
The critical step is simply recognizing it: “All they have to do is recognize it.” Bringing leadership into consciousness — “Oh, I am in leadership” — is itself a significant step. This recognition includes seeing that even not stepping into a leadership role is a leadership act: “Either way, I’m in the leadership authority position, but I’m just frozen in it rather than fluidly moving into it and owning it.”
Related Concepts
- Great leaders follow their conviction and the conviction of others
- Blame prevents stepping into leadership
- Empower people decentrally