Leadership is not confined to prestigious and grandiose titles, inspiring speeches, clever strategies, or power games. No, it transcends all that! If you allow me to compare our human life to that of a theater stage, then each of us stands on a unique stage, at the center of our own personal story. The spotlights of existence shine on us, revealing our dreams, challenges, and immense potential. In this grand play called “the world,” we all play a role, whether we want to or not. What about leadership in this?

Well, it is the art of playing the lead role, which means being the person who not only leads their own life, guiding their own destiny, but who also inspires and guides others. Yes, leadership is above all an inner strength, and before it manifests externally, it resides first within us, deeply rooted and waiting to be awakened and nurtured, of course. It is a quality that each of us can develop and refine. It is the art of becoming the best version of ourselves and inspiring others to do the same, the art of catalyzing change, creating a vision, and mobilizing others to achieve it.

Some people are recognized as leaders by their titles: the boss of a company, for example, the pastor of a church, the president of an association, the mayor of the city… They are at the top of the organizational chart. However, those who interact with them, those who are under their responsibility, under their orders, do not always particularly want to follow them, or even do not follow them at all! We do not necessarily go to see them or address them; we might even go see someone else within the structure rather than them!

No one wants to follow or listen to them. Alongside this, there are people within the same structures who have no title, but whom people go to in times of need, for problems, for questions… A true leader is not so much someone who has the titles, but someone whom people follow, someone who inspires others… Let’s look at the example left by the greatest leader of all time, Jesus himself. He said:

“Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men. Immediately they left their nets and followed him.” (Matthew 4:19-20)

Jesus influenced others to follow him, even without an officially recognized title. J. Maxwell, the great teacher on leadership, constantly repeats that leadership is influence! If you want to know who the leader of an organization is, whatever it may be, look at who truly influences people! Look at whom people naturally turn to, refer to, listen to…

But leadership is not first recognized at work; it is seen in the private sphere, in their church, or in any association they may be involved in: even without a title, people will follow them; people who are not obliged to follow will choose, on their own, spontaneously, to follow anyway! This is exactly what happens with Jesus when he asks Peter and Andrew to follow him: nothing forces or compels them to follow Jesus.

Yet, they decide to leave their activity, their job, their fishing business, to leave everything to follow Jesus. In this sense, Jesus is undeniably a leader: he does not have the titles, he does not claim to be one, but he influences people to follow him. This is how you can test your level of leadership, knowing that the more people who spontaneously follow you, the more you have the stature of a leader!

I think of Nelson Mandela, who recounts in his biography that during his twenty-seven years in prison for his fight against apartheid in South Africa, he became, “despite himself,” the leader of the prisoners. But more than that, ministers and political leaders from around the world came to visit him in prison. Nelson Mandela was truly a leader, yet his only title was that of a prisoner…

Thus, a true leader is someone who does not wait to have the title, who does not wait to be the president, the pastor of the church, or the department head to intervene, to help, to contribute, to carry the burden… True leadership reveals itself in the shadows and in the absence of a titles…

This text is an excerpt from the book “INFLUENCER” written by LUC DUMONT.

We invite you to read the following article “EXCELLENCE.“