Are you a leader?
Conventionally people may say that you need to be a prime minister, a president, a billionaire, a business owner, an MBA or a senior manager in order to be a leader. Leadership, in reality, has nothing to do with the title you have or the job you are doing or even your material possessions. It is more a way of thinking and a way of being.
Leadership is not a position it is a decision. True leadership is a decision to live a life of excellence. Batman's childhood sweetheart said to him in one of the early Batman movies, "It is what you do that defines you." Your actions define your character. You are a leader if you decide to be a leader and begin to adopt the best practices shared by great leaders and resolve to do everything that you choose to do, with excellence.
He has always said that a leader is one who instils values, inspires hearts, ignites minds, influences behaviours, impacts results and integrates energies. The one sure way to do all of the above is by developing the mindset and habit of excellence. If you cultivate excellence as a mindset and as a habit in whatever you do, you will instil the value of excellence in others. You will be a role model who wins over people's hearts and inspires them to follow your example. You will ignite their minds to find ways to be their best too.
You will influence their behaviour with your own desire to learn and grow. You will impact results because when you are a master you create your own personal economy regardless of the market economy. People always pay for mastery. And you will integrate the energies of your team by creating a culture of excellence. Commit to excellence. Say to yourself: " In a world where most people settle for less than what they can be and resign themselves to mediocrity, I'm going to aim for mastery to be his best!
He is going to be so good at what he does, that when people see him working at what he does, they know that his differentiator is excellence." He paraphrased what Martin Luther King said, in his own words: If one is called upon to be a street sweeper, one must sweep streets just as Michael Angelo sculpts or Da Vinci paints or as Mozart composes music. One must sweep the streets so well that even the Gods from Heaven watch him in awe and proclaim 'Here lives a great street sweeper!'
Let him share with you a story. There was an 80-year-old maestro pianist. After witnessing his dazzling stage piano performance, a young reporter asked him in an interview, " Sir, you are a natural talent! How do you spend your time these days?" He replied, " I spend 8 hours a day practicing to play to piano". The reporter was astonished! He said, " Sir but why?! You are already so good!" The maestro replied, " Being good is not good enough for me, I want to be superb!" The mindset of a Master is the mindset of Excellence!
Be a Master! Be a Leader!
Don't settle for less than what you can be. Make your life the masterpiece it deserves to be.
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