Leaders think and talk about the solutions.
Followers think and talk about the problems.
Brian Tracy
It’s easy to be negative. It takes little effort to sit back and wait to be told what to do. It doesn’t take much to gloat when things seem to be falling apart or aren’t materializing fast enough. It’s easy to point out all of the mistakes and problems in our lives, to make fun, to seep dripping words of sarcasm on our failures, and to throw up your hand in resignation, and in turn do nothing.
It’s easy but being a leader, doing the thinking and talking, and finding a solution to a problem is very hard. Impossible even, but not unsolvable.
The follower has the satisfaction of immediate gratification and the overwhelming support and comfort of the masses. They think and feel like her. They gossip and naysay like him. They mirror and perpetuate a road that only brings more and more of the same. It’s a read of wasted effort, of misused time, and of misspent energy.
The leader on the other hand stands alone. They feel very lonely. They are most uncertain, and their thoughts are full of doubts and confusion, but they lead. They expand the same effort as a follower, except they are better for it, and the world is enriched by their effort.
The world is enriched by their effort even if they fail. You see, a leader doesn’t have to succeed. She just has to start something.
And lets not misunderstand the context of the word to follow here. We have to be great followers as well. We have to do what has to be done. Put in the time that has to be put in. Believe in someone or something bigger than ourselves.
There is an art to following.
We have to follow good leaders. We have to follow life giving ideas. There are many times in our lives where without any doubt we have to support great leaders and implement great ideas. Ideas and things that enrich our lives. Leaders that seek untried and untested solutions. Ideas that do not enslave us and don’t just mitigate our problems.
We have to follow. We have to follow the right things, but above everything else we have to lead.
You and I have been given a voice. A voice only you and I can use and share with others. If you don’t do it, nobody will ever hear you. No one will ever understand. It’s not going to be easy. You will be criticized, misunderstood, and laughed at by the multitudes of negative keyboard warriors ready to destroy your worth, while never taking the time to create any of their own.
But life is not about them. Peace is not the absence of war. Any peace, any life, anything worth while believing in and embracing in our life will take some struggle and courage. It will take leadership. It will take your decision to not hide and speak up.
Stand tall. Be a leader you were born to be.
Maybe a timid leader at first. Small steps. Small plans, that will one day turn to giant leaps and universal plans. We all have to start somewhere. But no matter, above everything else don’t let anyone ever convince you that you don’t have a voice. You do. You were born to generously give solving problems a chance.
We are not asking you to be successful. We’re just asking that you be faithful.
