Leaders are human. Humans are capable of love and hate, doing good and evil, excelling and failing, being responsible and forgetful, showing empathy and being callous, telling the truth and telling lies, living in fear and acting courageously, demonstrating real strength and weakness.
Authentic leaders do NOT hide their divided selves from themselves or from the team they attempt to lead. Real leaders are real and raw. We connect to this HUman. We stick with him or her.
Most leaders present themselves as “THEman.” We, as followers, cannot relate to him or to her. Instead of sticking with, we often attempt, instead, to “stick it to THEman.” And why not; he’s not one of us or so we think.
Today, as you lead whatever team at home or at work, remember that you can model resilience only when you are real. IF you want a child that rises above her struggles, show her how you are doing the same. If you want a teammate that works on his weakness, show him how you are working on yours. Humans build strength, remember, through their discipline to embrace the struggle. Humans struggle…
Humans are, in fact, a house divided. Embrace this fact. STOP trying to put forth a front that hides the truth. We, your committed followers, won’t use this against you. Instead, we’ll come alongside and offer a hand. We always wanted to know that Dad struggled too. Somehow his strength didn’t diminish with this knowledge, at least not when this knowledge was his to reveal.
Leaders are human. Parents are too…
BUILT TO LEAD 