Are you a born leader? What makes you think so? While many believe that some people are natural leaders, effective leadership is not a skill anyone is born with. It’s something that requires study, time, and effort to develop.
The Colonel said, “Leaders are not born, kid. Leaders grow and evolve through practice, building skills and putting in the ‘reps’ until leadership is second nature.” As a child, I was always ready to take the lead, confident that I should be the one in charge (Maybe I was just bossy, who knows…), but that wasn’t enough to make me a good leader. Leadership is a craft that requires skill. Skill requires practice. So, I had to put in the effort to learn the craft of leadership. An example that Dad used often was professional golfer Tiger Woods. There’s no question that the two-year-old Tiger, who appeared on the Mike Douglas show in 1978 and started slamming golf balls, was a child prodigy. However, that child prodigy would not have gained the reputation and accolades that Tiger Woods has without putting the “reps” in for all the skills involved in the game. In his prime, Tiger Woods employed up to four coaches at one time, each for different golf disciplines (driving, putting, wedges, etc.), and each of whom expected him to practice with them every day.
Any champion athlete learns from others and then works with coaches and mentors, putting in the “reps” and honing their craft until the skill becomes muscle memory. It’s the same with leadership. Stellar leadership requires working with mentors, consistently putting in the effort, and applying proven principles over and over and over again. Then, it begins to be muscle memory; you don’t have to think before applying those proven principles. And, like any skill, leadership requires a willingness to constantly learn and grow as the world changes so the skills don’t become stagnant and atrophy. Put in the reps. Those you lead deserve you at the top of your game.
Read Lauren’s Whitepaper on The Nine Essentials of Significant Leadership.
