Leader View pt.1

Whether by skill, time, experience, or charisma noted contributors are almost always labeled Leaders. Elevation to positions with authority over people, process, purpose follows. We equate the title LEADER with eminence and admiration, which almost certainly brings a platform. Glory. Prestige. Exclusivity. Authority. Power; exorbitant amounts.  

In our status hungry world, we are full to the brim with those pursuing “leadership.” 

The more I am around leaders the more I am convinced that with all the information and focus on how to be a leader, we have lost the key characteristics of true leadership. We are reading books, going to conferences, listening to podcasts, immersing ourselves in what makes a good leader. It is all we do; it occupies our thoughts, determines our actions, filters our words.

We say it is to help others. Or that it is our destiny, more likely, our purpose. We are penitent, caring.... writing blogs about our thoughts, "if my words help just one person.... it is worth it. "  We go after followers, stand up in church, write our own book. We tell ourselves that when we are a leader we have arrived. (we never do) We think that when we arrive we will have done what was needed, dotted the I's, crossed the T's. Leading, it appears, is the result of a life well lived. 

We would never admit that we CRAVE in our deepest soul what we believe Leadership gives us - Illustrious distinction. 

The ardent lure of esteem, a drug covered in chocolate.

Damn, it feels good, though. My deep tissue massaged ego and giant megaphone, untouchable opinions and people clamoring for my attention. It feels great to be heard. To bring a smile to someone because I took the time to share my day. 
I love sitting in a meeting and being unchallenged, don't you?  I love the thrill of posting - the comments, the likes. I love all the speaking. The recognition. And honestly, knowing that I have the last word fills me with all kinds of good feels. (I really deserve it, I've worked HARD to get here). I love giving permission and being able to correct wanderers back to the path. The money ain't bad, either, not gonna brag (Cause I'm freakin' humble).

We read about hedonism and suck our teeth.

I am talking to talking to all of us. 

We have bought the lie. Continue to buy the lie. We eat it for breakfast and drink it in our coffee. We dance with it and appease it... terrified it will leave us. 

Look at your nightstand... what are you reading? Look at your goals... what are you pursuing? Don't for a second tell me that if all the promise of lights and attention went away you would still want what you want, write what you write, snap what you snap, read what you read, do what you do. 

We follow the lights. Every last one of us. 

We ache for the title. The voice, for ears that will listen and then do what we say.  WE LIVE FOR THE DREAM. 

And, being a leader is an acceptable way to quest for power. 

We believe the propaganda touting nobility of leadership. It fools us into thinking it is self-sacrificing. Cross-bearing. We admit our mistakes, show ourselves without make-up, sound off about the underserved. We sigh about the responsibility of authority and roll our eyes back into our head at the stress, promising to moderate our time. I think we call it life balance.

We hope our sighs prove our legitimacy.

No one knows that it is all an attempt to hide our insecurity, to cover up the ache, to prove to ourselves that we matter, to finally get what we deserve. No one will know that at our weakest we fear the loss of our standing, falling to nothing, being seen as a fraud.

Tricksters who sell their concepts for money teach us how to lead using smoke screen confidence, infectious emotion, and regurgitated jargon.  We mimic actions, memorize suggestions. We pantomime and tango to rise through the ranks. We hand these charlatans the keys to our lives, in small and large ways, and let them teach us how to think and live. 

Conservative and liberal alike.

We are pursuing the qualities of a leader as part of our success recipe. 

We have lost our way. 

Something is deeply wrong. 

Our motivations have gone unchecked. 

We think that head knowledge and puppetry make us leaders. 

As soon as a leader begins to do something because they are a leader... they have ceased to be an effective leader. It is EGO.

We have lost the meaning of what true leadership is. In the process, we have also lost connection with genuine masters of skill, knowledge, and art. As a civilization many of our shapeshifters, culture reformers, world changers are barely more than glory seekers. 

It is my opinion that anyone actively pursuing Leadership is seeking attention in the form of position, power, and recognition. Whether they admit it or not. No matter how noble, pious, or revered they are. 

Most of our leaders are displaced and virtually useless. 

We know it when we see it. We know it in our gut. Yet too many of us follow a powerful leader, blindly; probably because it excites the part in us that longs for the same. 

You may get the position. The fan base. The Influence. You may. But at what cost? Is it possible that you lost yourself somewhere along the way and never noticed?