As I questioned myself if I wanted to be a leader, I found that I didn’t want to at all. I then proceeded to ask myself, “Why do I no longer have the desire to lead?” “Assess[ing] how [I] feel about power” lead me to the answer (Lee, X80). Whenever I thought of leadership, I thought of power. Power is not what I want, and I have no desire to have power over anyone. Once I established this, I was able to think of leadership in a new way. I began to analyze the word in doing so found my definition of a leader. A leader is someone that leads ideas and knowledge to connect with other pieces of information, and in doing so, inspiring others to do the same. “Intellect alone will not make a leader,” but because I am passionate about my own intellect, I can use my passion to inspire and guide others (Goleman, X62). Connecting emotional with intelligence is what makes me want to be a leader!
Holmes said, “What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us”[1] (Covey, 96). What lies within us is our ability to connect what lies behind and ahead and this is where it all begins. Synergy “catalyzes, unifies, and unleashes the greatest powers within people” and it is the “essence of principle-centered leadership” (Covey, 262). John Newman explained that our minds connect a "view of old and new, past and present, far and near” and “has an insight into the influence of all these one on another; without which there is no whole, and no centre. It possesses the knowledge, not only of things, but also of their mutual and true relations."[2]
When we look within, and connect, we grow some much. I believe you should never stop growing, learning, or discovering yourself. “The idea is that when we take time to draw on the leadership center of our lives, what life is ultimately all about, it spreads like an umbrella over everything else” (Covey, 294). Being a leader is just a part of my life’s journey to discover, learn and grow.
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