There are aspects of leadership where you are leading, practically, because you are the loudest voice in a group and everyone else has either decided to (or are forced to) listen to you.   People will listen to the loudest voice in a room but they tend to follow the most confident voice. B eing louder and more confident will set you apart from most people.   A defining trait of a leader is literally being in where you should be   - another way to say this is "showing up."  Showing up looks like...being early/on-time and being "present" in conversations. This is a fundamental part of leadership. A leader is present physically and emotionally...and taking it one step more,  they make decisions.  If there is a group of 5 people and only one person speaks up about what they think is the best plan of attack – they are by default showing leadership characteristics.  It may not be the best plan, but it is currently the only plan. Leaders call o...

  I would daydream as a kid about what kind of job I would have when I grew up. When I was younger, I would watch Arnold Schwarzenegger movies, where he looked slick, professional, yet always ready to kick someone's butt. I thought it would be the best thing ever if I could resemble him as an adult. After all, I did spend at least 10 minutes each week lifting my dad and brother's weights (about 1.5 minutes per day, lifting a few times, and then looking in the mirror saying "whew, nice work out"), and by the time I was 30 I thought my 10 minutes a week would turn into 3 hours a day, and I would have huge muscles as an adult like Arnold or Hulk Hogan. I imagined myself going to work, having the trademark Schwarzenegger haircut, wearing a suit, and riding my Ninja motorcycle to work with my slight mullet flapping in the wind. That, I thought, would look cool...and then I would think, "oh, I guess then I'd have to do some 'office-y' work the rest of the d...

"You better enjoy this summer, bud, because next year you're going to start working - this is your last summer being a kid." It was 1989, and I was 11 years old. My dad was preparing me for the real world and trying to get me mentally prepared for the years ahead when I would be mowing yards, mulching flower beds, and raking leaves for money in my neighborhood. After that, as he would say, "you are going to work the rest of your life." That wasn't comforting to me, to say the least, but I tried to put his comment in my dad's context as a tough as nails road worker, and he always worked hard without much of a break. He was right though, it was inevitable; I was going to be working...probably until the day I died. Phew - that was a heavy and depressing thought. But.  I'll tell you upfront that working isn't a bad thing. It's a wonderful thing. Yes, I said wonderful! Let me explain. Work as Part of Our Humanity If you look at the animal kingdom,...