Interesting.  Does any of this resonate with you?

“Where there is no progress, there’s no growth.  If there’s no growth, there’s no life..

Leaders challenge what is for the sake of what could and should be.  That’s the job of the leader…

Beyond the need to challenge what should be changed, leaders have been given the assignment to take people places they’ve never been before. 

Leaders provide a mental picture of a preferred future and then ask people to follow them there.  As leaders we are asking men and women not only to follow us to a place they have never been before; we are asking them to follow us to a place we have never been before.  That takes guts. 

Leaders are not always the first to see an opportunity.  They are simply the first to seize an opportunity.

Failure in any particular enterprise is something a leader can live with.  Even laugh about.  An unsuccessful enterprise is simply a lesson in things not to repeat.  Leaders can much more easily live with the prospects of having tried and failed than not having tried at all. 

Failure is a part of success.  Ask a successful leader how he overcame his fear of failure, and chances are he won’t give you a good answer.  Why?  Because he has never thought about it.  Leaders know the best way to ensure success is to take chances.  While the average person fears stepping out into a new opportunity, the leader fears missing out on a new opportunity.

Tom Watson Sr., founder of IBM, understood this principle.  A junior executive with the company once managed to lose over $10 million in a venture that was considered risky even by company insiders.  When Watson found out about the disaster, he called the young man to his office. 

Upon entering, the young man blurted out, ‘I guess you want my resignation?’

Watson allegedly responded, ‘You can’t be serious.  We just spent $10 million educating you.’

You can’t lead without taking risks. 

You won’t take risk without courage. 

Courage is essential to leadership.”

Andy Stanley, The Next Generation Leader