Notice what's around the corner...

After reading part three in A Leader's Legacy, something that struck me right away was the fact that leadership begins when something grabs hold of us. In order to be an effective leader, you need to know what your own key convictions and values are before you can try and implement them on to someone else. To succeed, you have to be able to clarify your own aspirations, because no one else can do that for you. I know I am extremely guilty for asking other people what I should do, but it is something I am working on. To be a leader, you have to know who you are and what is important to you.

Another key point that I got from the reading was that we need to pay more attention. We are always on the go, non-stop attached to computers, our blackberries, cellphones, etc. If we are never looking up and looking around us, then we are never going to notice things. We need to start living more in the present, but think more long term at the same time. Many leaders are not always "present"; even if their body is there that doesn't mean there mind is. If you want others to be committed and listen to what you have to say, you have to be entirely there. I think it is important that we all remember to stop and look around every so often. Like right now, it is March 2nd, at 1:13, there will never be another moment exactly like this. We need to make sure we are making the most of our time and looking around, noticing things. The best leaders are the best observers.