One quote that I really liked was: “Great leaders create movements by empowering the tribe to communicate. They establish the foundation for people to make connections, as opposed to commanding people to follow.” That is an interesting way to look at leadership. I had not considered that before.
When I finished the book, I asked myself “so what?” So, what do I want to do with this information. I was not sure but one thing I decided was that I need to stop doing is being a lurker. Under the heading “Leaning In, Backing Off, Doing Nothing” Seth Godin shared a story about an online forum where he talked about those that chose not to engage but to sit and watch. He made a comment that really struck home to me, “they were hiding, afraid of something that wasn’t likely to happen”. Hmmm is that what I do? I know that I am not fully engaging in (or investing in) the group so why am I there? Do I lurk out of fear? That was hard hitting but he might have a point.
I have been pondering the areas that I highlighted and thinking about what my takeaways were. As I was pondering, I was reading in a Steven Covey book this idea, “J. McDonald taught: “To be trusted is a greater compliment than to be loved.” Leadership is not so much a matter of techniques and practices as it is fundamental character and integrity, humility and morality.”
Seems like there are a lot of different ideas about what leadership is and what it looks like. Leaders can guide, influence, and direct others towards a common vision or goal. According to Mr. Godin we all can and should be leaders. We just need to do what we believe in and step out to create a tribe. Since being introduced to the Thomas Jefferson Education Model I find that I want to be more than a leader. I want to develop statesmanship. I am not able to articulate well what the differences between leadership and statesmanship are but one thing I do understand is that leaders can be good or bad. They can uplift or drag down. We have a lot of people in the world that lead but the question that I really want to ask myself is where are they leading? What are they promoting? Are they dedicated to serving the greater good? Promoting freedom? Uplifting society? I think that is what I want to become more of. A person who promotes freedom and uplifts wherever I go while serving the Greater Good.