We are all leading someone. This is reality. CEO's lead organizations, Mayor's lead cities, principles lead schools and parents lead children. It's safe to say, you are leading someone. Maybe it's a friend, a sibling or a co-worker. LEADERSHIP is NATURAL.
Potential is a valuable commodity. A few things to consider about 'potential'. It is full of promise, hope and direction. Potential is 'existing in possibility'. It's up for grabs, but is not guaranteed. It is capable of developing into actuality. Here is what the famous composer Gian Carlo Menotti said about potential:
"Hell begins on that day when God grants us a clear vision of all that we might have achieved, of all the gifts that we wasted, of all that we might have done that we did not do."
Another thing about potential. One key to creating your own is to recognize it in others. When you look at someone, what do you see? Do you even see anything? What if you started looking for potential. Unrealized potential is a tragic waste. When you lead someone, you have the privilege of helping others discover and develop their potential. But you can't do that until you see their potential. The real test is always between what you've done and what you're capable of doing.
Whenever you look at people, look for the spark of greatness. Watch and listen with your heart as well as your eyes. What if you saw a glimpse of something in someone and you called it out?
Look at your children and determine what is 'existing in possibility'. Did they do something without being told? Maybe that is a glimpse of responsibility. Affirm that. Remember this principle:
Whatever gets rewarded, gets repeated.
Effective leadership, regardless of your position or title, requires you to 'see what can't be seen' in the lives of those around you and calling it out.
Stretch yourself
Jesse
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