Leaders don’t turn up, they front up

The ever-vexing question – what makes a great leader?

Are they born or are they created? I’m not sure there is a definitive answer. However, I do believe that Leadership is about acceptance of your life’s outcomes, albeit personal or professional. They are not passengers in life. They have clarity. As to the outcomes they drive toward, as well as the people that they surround themselves, and the journey they are on, they are all collaborators, not diminishes of people.

I was recently reading a wonderful business book I procured from Harvard University (closest I’ll ever get to Harvard!) called “The Three Box Solution” by Vijay Govindarajan. It explores the concept of past, present and future, what did we learn from the past, how that impacts on today, and what we take with us/leave behind as we venture into the future. Clear attributes of anyone who has clarity around where they’re going, not stuck on where they’ve been – a mantra of leadership I would have thought. A quote in the book sums it up,

“If you proactively attend to the future everyday, you earn the opportunity to shape the future to your advantage.”

In the face of any external influences, great leaders “front up”, become fixated with what needs to be done, clearly articulate the plan, and are the first people to lead the charge and the perspiration of hard works. This creates inspiration for others to do what needs to be done. Even if they don’t want to do it, they will.

So are leaders born or created?

I think great leaders are created. They mash together inspiration and perspiration. They understand to climb to the top of the mountain is a gnarly, craggy and dangerous journey that has more knee grazing moments than not, but they also understand that staying fixated on the view from the top will ease the pain along the way.

So when you awake each day, don’t just show up for the next twenty-four hours – front up and lead yourself before you can lead others.