It’s easy to lead when everyone follows,

It’s hard to lead when some fail to follow.

 

It’s hard to cut the weakest link,

But it’s not that hard.

What’s even harder is to transmute this inadequacy into competence

 

Now learning is easy — until it gets hard.

Teaching is easy — until it gets hard.

Anyone has a certain barrier, limit of competence,

Getting near that limit is relatively easy. You provide environment for the realization of their potential — and it flowers,

It’s pushing the envelope, it’s pushing beyond that potential and limit — is what is hard.

And what is really hard is achieving that within reason,

without compromising the whole group/organisation.

 

Good leader leads firmly, creating environment for the realization of organisation’s potential

Great leader leads firmly — and expands beyond that potential.

He elevates

 

How does he do it?

Good leader is good at his area of expertise — and he’s good at leading others around that area.

Great leader is great at his area of expertise — and great at expanding, evolving, elevating his ability.

He is great at his area of expertise because he was first great at elevating, expanding, growing. Therefore he elevated and expanded and grew himself and became great,

Now when he’s the leader — he is also great at leading, great at expanding and elevating,

He’s not only good — so as to lead others around the area he is most familiar with,

He is great therefore the sum is greater than the sum of the parts — therefore the whole organisation goes into places it has never been,

And then entities it’s comprised of go to the places they have never been.

Great leader expands their potential.

 

Now of course not everyone whose good at something is good at teaching it, arranging for others to do it, or utilising this potential and scaling it,

Being good is easy. Being great is hard.

Being great is EXPANDING. Which is a different skill altogether.

Being good is easy, being good is but realising one’s potential, in a straight forward way,

Being great is expanding, being great is going beyond, being great is overcoming those barriers and becoming good at MORE than just one’s potential,

And THIS is the skill which makes the great leader,

Yes, being great at his area of expertise — that helps,

But it’s how he got there is what is the rare secret.

It’s not about just being good. It’s about conquering one’s barriers.

That is a great man and that is a great leader.

 

Great leader expands their potential because he has first expanded his potential,

So he knows what it’s like to hit a barrier — and go beyond it,

He knows where mere potential ends,

He knows where mere theoretical knowledge ends,

He knows where mere hard work and effort ends,

He can still go a little beyond it,

He can still lead others a little beyond it.

 

Good leaders are good at what they do and lead others well around that area.

Great leaders go beyond what they are good at, they expand — and like lead others to expand themselves beyond what they are good at.

 

Therefore one more time, yet again, the same conclusion:

It all starts with you and ends with you,

And what matters is what you tangibly improved today. That is the true greatness