To Lead or Not to Lead, It's Not Up to You!

As the years of motherhood swallowed up more and more of my adult life, I often would stop myself  to turn around and look over my brood only to wonder, "Why are all these kids following me?" Often it was just a moment of realization in the fact that somehow I was the mother of five beautiful children, and the humility of the situation would envelop me in gratitude. Other times, however the enormity of them so blindly following me and trusting that I knew what I was doing was overwhelmingly intimidating.  I mean, what basis did they have for the trust that they put in my ability to keep them safe, teach them and guide them in their little lives?  They had not studied my credentials or perused my qualifications.  And yet, there they were when I woke up, staring at me, willing me to lead the way.

       I can recall the first time they joined me on the track to actually run. Usually I would bring them out there for them to play on the infield while I did my laps.  This day, however, they laced up and were all on the track, giggling and talking as we looped the field. Later that day I texted my sister-in-law to relay a message of joy mixed with horror. It was a moment that was at once a dream come true and a nightmare. I mean, they were following my lead into running and fitness, but I knew my days of meditation on the track were ending, at least for a while.  Later that year, they ran the Princeton Kids Marathon. Twenty-five miles were run over the span of a month up to "race day". Then the last mile was run on a course that ended at the Princeton University arena. As runners finished the race on the track my children were nowhere to be seen. Then the announcer, a WPST disc jockey, could be heard proclaiming that the final runners were entering the arena. There they were, my two older girls carrying their little sister into the arena. They put her down and proceeded to hold hands all the way around the track and across the finish line. It was official, I was their leader in all things, whether or not that realization was in the forefront of my mind at any given moment.

I write all this to help you consider something tremendously important. This post is about YOU! You in your everyday life living with the power to be a leader, whether or not you choose the role. Considered the enormity of this responsibility! We don't get to choose whether or not we will be a leader. Instead, as soon as someone is following another, the person being followed is a leader.

Wait, what? Yep, that's right!

Every reader here has the potential to become a leader at any given moment that someone chooses to follow you. You, the parent...you, the teacher...you, the principal...you, the teen...you, the driver...you, the customer...you, the commuter...you, the waiter...you, the optimist...you, the pessimist...you get the picture!  You never know when someone is watching you, just waiting to follow your lead.

And then...

                 the moment someone begins following you, you are a leader...
                             
                                           It's not up to you, so choose your actions wisely!