The leader and the boss

You can be a leader without being a boss. You can be a boss without being a leader. They do not always equate.

You can choose to be a leader, regardless of title and role, but you do have to work for it. How you think and behave will tell that story.

How you act will define your leadership qualities. It is not a perk that comes with a title. You do not become a leader from a promotion. You don’t get to say, “As a leader,…” if your only followers are there by organizational structure.

You speak and you listen twice as much. You empathize with others. You seek to lift up and empower. You put yourself and your gain second.

No one is born a leader or with leadership qualities. It is a legitimacy one earns and maintains.