Over the past decade, a single topic has dominated the shelves where business books are sold. It’s leadership. 
But has it done any good?
My hunch: likely not as much as we’d hope, and maybe as much harm as good. Because leadership isn’t something your can “learn” like golf. It’s not a new outfit you can put on. Or even new words and practices you adopt and use – because they’re what others who’ve been successful use.
“How to” prescriptions for leadership divert attention away from the seed at its core.
That’s because leadership is an “inside job.” It’s not about how you act, what you say or what you know. Nor is it about how the sum of those appearances plays on the outside. Rather, it’s about who you are. – on the inside.
Great leaders come in all kinds of wrappings. With the most effective often appearing like the least. With most never having read any of the “Keys to Leadership Success” drivel. For the best, it’s not learned. It’s felt. It’s not added on. It’s already there.
Take Lawrence Joshua Chamberlain, one of the most celebrated heroes of the Civil War, who defended Little Round Top at Gettysburg, with a hopelessly outnumbered force of Mainers, turning the tide of the battle and winning the Congressional Medal of Honor. A soft-spoken and studious college professor with no prior military experience. One of the least likely.
Or, more recently, Russell Wilson. Seattle Seahawks rookie quarterback, drafted as a backup, who has raised the spirit of the entire Seattle organization to new heights. In the locker room and on the field. A humble, reserved young man, who refuses interviews without a coat and tie. Already with the followership of a hall of famer.
How did they do it?
It’s because of who they are. Anchored in a rock-solid internal sense of duty, with an obsession to live up to it. Putting everything else secondary to their destiny and their fundamental allegiance to what they believe is right.
You can get there too.
It may require sacrifice. Of time and mind space. But, if you care enough about being great at what you do – leading your organization from your Job At The Top to greatness, you won’t be able to put that intention in second place.
