Free Others
Nelson Mandela speaks about a second aspect of leadership which I find to be very important.
Free others.
For Mandela, that meant freeing his own people. Bringing an end to injustice. Stopping tyranny, both internal and external.
And "free others" could mean the same thing for us. Perhaps with a bit more nuance.
Leadership has everything to do with empowerment. Not personal empowerment for personal gain. Not getting to the top of the ladder or the highest position. That's not leadership, That's politics. Leadership is never making yourself better at the expense of the people around you. But making the people around you that are at the expense of yourself. There’s been a lot of talk lately in some of the circles I find myself in about the significance or the insignificance of injustice. This is an odd conversation to me and is creating a false narrative around an important subject.
Leaders walk an innate and intrinsic path to justice because leaders walk the path of empowerment. If they don’t walk that path, they’re not leading.
Leadership is freeing those we lead to reach their fullest potential. To thrive. To live well in everything they've been gifted in and called to do. That begins with human rights at its most basic level and ends at unlocking and setting free human potential in every person around us.
That's true leadership.
And you don't need a position for that sort of influence.