Yesterday I had my second speech as a Toastmasters member and I talked about how can anyone be a leader without actually leading a team.
Few years ago I believed that a leader is the person who leads a team to success using social and managing skills. Back then I didn’t have a team to lead so in my opinion I was not a leader.
But I really wanted to develop my leadership skills. So I asked myself the most important question in my life up to that point.
Can I be a leader without leading a team?
I came up with three reasons why anyone – even me, even you – can be a leader without the need to lead a team. I would like to share this reasons with you.
Influence Others
The first reason is influence others.
When I think about influence I think about creating a change in someone.
Leadership is influence – nothing more, nothing less. (John C. Maxwell)
When you influence somebody, you take the lead. Anyone has some sort of influence either big or small, but anyone has it.
An unborn child influences its mother the second she finds out she’s pregnant.
Imagine yourself in a bus or in a subway. You make eye contact with someone – a stranger. And that person smiles at you. Do you smile back or not? The stranger is the leader in that particular situation because it influences you in some way by smiling at you.
Do you know who is the person you influence the most in your life?
YOU – you are the person you influence the most. And this leads me to the next reason why I believe that anybody can be a leader without leading a team.
Change Yourself
The second reason is change yourself.
The moment you influence yourself to make a change in your life you take control and you become the leader.
Imagine that you have an important exam in just 2 days. And you didn’t study not half of the materials.
You become the leader when you influence yourself to say STOP! I won’t procrastinate anymore! And you take those materials and just start studying.
Let’s say you want to exercise 30 minutes a day. You have to create this daily routine – to change you habits. To do this you have to influence yourself to do the routine every single day – even when your on vacation, or you’re sick or it’s Christmas or Valentine’s Day.
Could you think of someone who can help you stick to your daily routine?
If so, this brings me to the third and last reason why I believe someone can be a leader without actually leading a team.
Serving Others
The third reason is serving others.
A leader is a person who serves by helping other people, by care for other people and by put other people first.
The person you though about who can help you to stick to your daily routine is a leader that influences you to create that change within you. That person serves you in this case.
Last week my mother had a 9 days wellness program and I called her every day to check on her
Hi, Mom! How are you doing? Are you fine? What did you eat for lunch?
Or just to encourage her.
I am sure you are doing great! You already lost some pounds! Your body will thank you later!
In my work area I just ask my colleagues if they need my help as an IT Developer. And many times I get an YES!!! I really needed your help but I didn’t ask because I though you aren’t available.
In those cases I just add value to people by serving them.
I am a leader without a team
To sum up, anyone can be a leader – even me, even you – without leading a team by influencing others – and I grow my influence as a trainer & speaker -, by creating a change within you – and I continually change myself in the past 2 years – and by serving others – and I periodically find ways to be at serve.
I leave you with this next question:
Are YOU a leader?
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