Many aspire to be _______________ (fill in the blank). The idea behind this is that there is a certain standard, either set or perceived that they feel they need to meet before they are recognized as whatever they aspire to be.
Many consider themselves aspiring leaders. The problem with this is that they do not see themselves as leaders. The prerequisite of a leader is one person following.
Many have a perception that the number of people following you validates you as a leader. Not true. You can be a great leader with few followers and a bad leader with many and vice versa.
So, what standard have you set for yourself? What is it that you look at to confirm you a leader? There are many leaders in the world. However, not all of them are leading.
Heretics are not driven by the size of the crowd behind them. If you have to wait till you have whatever size crowd to start leading you might never lead.
If you have to wait till a throng hails you their leader you are likely never to get to the point of leading the crowd.
Before a large crowd follows or endorses their leader it will be a small crowd. Every leader with a large crowd (the standard set by many) started with a smaller crowd.
Stop considering yourself an aspiring leader. By virtue of realizing that you have influence and can leverage it for some good, you are a leader. You are not an aspiring leader, just a developing one.
There are no such things are aspiring leaders. There are only practicing leaders and non-practicing leaders. There are no such things are aspiring heretics. They are either practicing heretics or they are not.
Whatever prefixes you use before “leader”, the bottom line is you need to embrace, more than the prefix that you are a leader. Leadership heretics are consumed with passion for their cause more than the size of their crowd.
The problem with seeing yourself as an ‘aspiring leader’ is that you never feel like you have the mandate to shatter the status quo now
Whatever commitment to your cause you show will be a pulling force for potential followers. You will never be truly great leader if you wait for a crowd.
Not that you do it so that you’re “a great leader” but that you are driven by making a significant contribution to people advancing. You want to make a difference.
The things is, you can’t both be in the crowd and stand out.
The crowd is always afraid of shattering the status quo. The crowds always wait for someone else to go first. And that’s what leaders do; they go first. Heretics go without anyone behind them.
Heretics do not seek the permission of the crowd to change the world. They shatter the status quo and the crowd comes in to appreciate the heretic for saving them the trouble of going first.
You cannot be a heretic with a crowd behind you, if you cannot be a one without the crowd. Heretics break out of the crowd, and that, is what makes them leaders.
Drawing passion and energy from the cheers of the crowds will be fatal to your leadership when the cheers wane.
Your cause is that of changing your world. Changing the world. But you will never be that till you stop seeing yourself as an aspiring leader. Or an aspiring _______.
Start leading by validating yourself as a leader and stop waiting for the world to shout, with fingers pointed at you, “there’s a leader”.
Many sold out their opportunity to change the world when they waited for a crowd to follow them [Click to Tweet]
Simply be a leading heretic and let the recognition take care of itself. Lead. Be a heretic. Lead, you heretic.
No aspiring heretics…
Question: Why should you care about the size of the crowd following? How important is the size of the crowd in relation your cause?