The Idea: Every successful leader I’ve known had my trust, even the overly aggressive or emotional ones. Many of these men or women are not who I would have picked from the crowd, but I knew they had something special, even if I couldn’t explain it. They had my trust!
David Foster Wallace, renowned author described this idea brilliantly in his essay, Up, Simba: Seven Days on the Trail of an Anticandidate:
“The weird thing is that the word “leader” itself is cliché and boring, but when you come across somebody who actually is a real leader, that person isn’t cliché or boring at all; in fact he’s sort of the opposite”
Despite the continuous references of “leadership” in politics, religion, and business books, Wallace reminds us that true leadership is a deeply powerful exchange. Leadership is felt, not claimed. More importantly, Wallace describes why people follow others and give them “authority” to speak into their lives:
“A leader’s real “authority” is a power you voluntarily give him, and you grant him this authority not with resentment or resignation but happily; it feels right. Deep down, you almost always like how a real leader makes you feel, the way you find yourself working harder and pushing yourself and thinking in ways you couldn’t ever get to on your own.”
Leadership is a heart connection. And though we can hone our communication skills and improve what we do, true leadership is about serving others, and is something that must be felt. Because to go above and beyond what is expected of us – something that the best leaders catalyze – we first must trust them.
Leadership is not something that is declared. Leadership is felt and trusted.
