What does it mean to be a leader?
As it happens many times in our English language, it is contextual. And I am not referring to contextual, or “situational leadership”. I mean that the term “leader” means a completely different thing depending on the context is used in.
The most common use, is related to leadership. So a leader is whoever is showing the way to a group of people, who inspires them to go in a particular direction, to follow some objective, or dream. Leaders don’t have to be visible at all times in this context, they don’t even have to be in front of the group, going “first in”. They sometimes don’t even have been officially invested with the authority to be the leader. People follow them and they go where they suggest.
Then there is another context, and it is when there is a competition, or a ranking of some type. This is when we say that someone has gotten to the “leading position”. They are first. They are in front. Most of the time this doesn’t mean that they are being followed because they have inspired any of those behind them, any more than the mechanical rabbit inspires any of the greyhounds.
In business, something curious happens though. Sometimes, the two categories merge. Being first in the business world may mean being the biggest, having the most market share. But also, this may be due to innovative products or services that enjoy the customer’s preference. In this case, they are first, but they can also be inspirational.
Now that’s inspiring in itself!
Be first, be the best, bring others along.
Wait. What? 200? Yes! This is The Daily PPILL #200!! 40 weeks so far.