What makes a leader great?

Great leaders don’t set out to be leaders or consumed with having a following but instead are people that truly care about others. Their passion is to make a real difference in the world around them. The difficulty today is that we confuse celebs, sport icons and political grandstanders with being leaders. They might have a following but that seldom equates to someone that is willing to sacrifice himself or herself for the sake of the average person.

I know that too often the leadership paradigm that’s lifted up as being genuine involves too much focus on the individual instead of the impact they have made through their partnerships in the greater community. Leadership should be all about investing in both young and old! It should be about seeing others grow and attain their goals instead of being driven by what credit you get for your accomplishments.

Usually transparency and vulnerability are viewed as weaknesses in the high-powered leadership circles of today. Yet, I believe the true sign of a leader that will bring impact to the world of your average and normal person is humility. It’s the person who is willing to take more of the blame and is more interested in helping instead of being right at the expense of others.  I know as a parent it’s too easy to be right, win a personal battle but lose a relationship with your spouse, son or daughter.

What is going to change the world around us isn’t the person upfront who is the gifted speaker but the average person who chooses to do the ordinary in an extraordinary fashion! You don’t have to give a TED talk or have your own YouTube following to see the world around you change and improve. Think back to the person that let you pull into busy traffic, the person that held the door open for you with your hands full or the neighbor that gladly picked up some of the trash that was blowing in the wind that landed in your front yard.

Real leaders don’t care about being great or receiving credit but are more passionate in seeing their family, friends and potential new friends have a better day and the best life possible!