A pause in the plan: Leaders are everywhere

While I still have sharings of lessons from yet another CEO I have worked for, I want to take a moment to reflect on the fact that a title does not make a leader a leader. We are all leaders.

Earlier this week I was in a monthly meeting of CEOs in my region. Each one represents their company. Previously before holding this uncomfortable title of CEO; I had been in other rooms filled with CEOs representing my CEO at that time. I will admit in that room of the past, I used to look around the room and question whether or not most of those CEOs were a leader I would follow and learn from. Yeah, I was and perhaps still am pretty full of myself. In this week’s room of CEOs, I saw all different types. Each their own style. Ones that speak at every meeting, share their views in a manner that inspires by just the choice of language they use. Of course, there are those CEOs in the room who never speak in the crowd, but at the lunch table in a smaller group, you will find them quietly expressing their thoughts. Each one of them leads in their own way.

By the way, it is my humble opinion that the best leaders are the ones who listen more than they speak; yeah I know not an original thought. While this is what is important to me in what I am trying to do, this might not be important to others.

This gets to my observation, it doesn’t matter if you hold a title of leadership; we are all in our own way a leader. Whether you are working on the front lines of an organization or sitting towards the top of its food chain, you are making decisions and sharing your thoughts that will inspire others to better either through the inspiration of doing or avoiding the behavior that they see in you.

In the end, I challenge everyone to recognize they are leaders and start to explore what type of leader they are today and what type of leader they will be tomorrow. There isn’t a simple answer, other than strive to be better and learn. After all in nature, there are basically only three states of being, dormancy, decay, or growth.

Next week I will come back to my first observation/lesson of a CEO I have not written about. It is a CEO that goes counter to what I believe is my style and frankly, one that I was hard for me to work for.