Being a Leader

Managers are people who do things right, while leaders are people who do the right thing.- Warren Bennis, Ph.D. "On Becoming a Leader"

I had a great conversation with my best friend Donte Stafford on Saturday. I asked him what kept him from getting involved in violence growing up in Richmond Ca. Richmond is in the top ten in murders per captia in the United States. He told me the reason is that he wanted to be a leader. While his cousins and other people around him were going to jail for various crimes he did not want to follow their example, he wanted to emerge as a leader and follow his own path.
It's easy in my opinion to go along with the crowd, to give in to peer pressure and do what everyone else does. It takes the real men and women to not follow the crowd and have the strength to stand alone. As a youth I felt the same as Donte, I also wanted to be a leader and not follow the destructive path my peers were taking. After this conversation I began to think about how important it is to inspire our youth to be leaders. To have the strength to do the right thing in spite of pressure from their peers. This may be the most important trait to have as a young adult growing into adulthood. I will make sure to instill the importance of being a leader in my children.

Each day is also a chance for all of us to be a leader. The decisions we make and the kind way we deal with others will reflect well on us. Each interaction with our co workers and others we come in contact with show our desire to be a leader in all aspects of life.