Leadership Is In You

There are two movies that I can watch over and over. They are Armageddon and Independence Day. Each one is a science fiction movie where the overall theme is that a central or main character has to take on a special act of courage in order to save the Earth from destruction by some sort of outside force.

In each movie, the pivotal character is a father that has to make a very critical decision; do they keep their word to their family members, or do they do the brave and, untimately, correct thing for both their family members and humanity. Of course each character does what they have to do, and the Earth is saved.

What makes each man similar is that they chose the correct path. What makes each man different is the circumstances that got them there. In one, he’s the leader of his company, recruited by the goverment to save humanity. In the other, he’s a drunk suffering the effects of war and his belief that he was kidnapped by aliens, pretty much a loser with a family that he can barely take care of. But both did what they had to do to become heroes, though it wasn’t the intention of either.

Leadership takes all forms, and sometimes comes unexpectedly. Not only that, but everyone is capable of being a leader when the time comes; whether they actually do the heroic thing or not is something else. I think back often to what happened in New York City in September of 2001, where heroes were born, and unfortunately where some heroes died. Some of them were already leaders and managers; some of them were regular folks who felt a sense of duty and commitment to others. Even if we don’t remember their names, we remember the acts, as do those who were saved by those acts.

Every day someone has the opportunity to be a leader. There’s nothing that says leaders have to wait for catastrophic circumstances to step forward. As a manager, you have the opportunity to be a leader every single day to the people who work for you, or with you. No, it’s not always easy; but would you rather wait for life and death situations to have to discover whether you’re up to it?