On Leadership

Professionals, by definition, are leaders. Teacher, scientist, doctor, realtor, architect, musician, athlete, advisor— your clients seek you out because your aptitudes, experience and knowledge address their needs. They look to you to solve their dilemmas, heal their wounds and take them to a better place. At that moment, you are the leader they need.

But there’s more. Most of us practice our professions surrounded by juniors, support staff, adjacent experts, and suppliers. And all of them count on us to show the way forward.

In times like these our clients and our teams are frightened. They look to us for much more than our usual run-of-the-mill leadership— they count on us to offer reassurance, hope, and example.

Leadership is not a badge you wear. It’s not showmanship, or bluster, or tub-thumping. It’s essentially the demonstration of good character.

To lead, you must be courageous. You can still be courageous even if you’re terrified inside– courage is simply doing what needs to be done, no matter how much you want to run away.

To lead, you need to understand what is coming down the road at you and your people. This means that you need to listen to wisdom and look for information so that you can make sense of the big picture. To do these things well, it’s best to be quiet most of the time and let others tell you what they are thinking. But when the time comes, it’s up to you to decide.

Leaders don’t make excuses. Leaders aren’t constantly triangulating to figure out what is advantageous to them, or what puts them in the best light. Leadership means you assess what’s best for those who rely on you, not you.

Leadership doesn’t arise in a vacuum. If you have character, you can and will be a leader, but if you have never cultivated a moral compass, you will never lead, no matter what the sign on your desk says. In times like these, we get to find out who our true leaders are, but we also find out who is just wearing a badge.

Your team, your profession, your community and your family are counting on you to be their leader. In fact, we all are.