“Nothing great will ever be achieved without great men, and men are great only if they are determined to be so.”  ~ Charle De Gaulle

There are many unknowns when a ship is in trouble at sea. There should be one thing however, that is known to everyone there. Come what may, the last person to leave the ship will be its captain. Period. The captain will put his passengers and crews’ best interest before his own. That’s leadership. Compare and contrast that to officials in Washington D.C. that have one set of healthcare standards for us while providing a less costly and superior system for themselves. That’s people in power. 

Most of us will at some point find ourselves in roles that have power over others. The question is, will we show leadership? As parents, we have power over our children. As children we may eventually find ourselves with power over elderly parents. There are customers, clients, patients; subordinates and organizations we serve. At different points of our life, most of us will possess power in some form. As counterintuitive as it may sound, assuming a leadership role and sacrificing for the good of others is essential for getting a life. In order to have a well-lived life, we must be able to look at ourselves and know we did the tough stuff. When challenges came, we met them head-on. We earned the labels of pride, dignity, and character. When I was a single parent, we ate fruit every morning. If there was not enough, I did without. If some of it had blemishes, I made sure I took those. My kids never noticed, but I did this and other small sacrifices to both train and remind myself to be prepared for the big challenges. I never wanted to look in the mirror and know that I had power but was unwilling to be a leader. ‘Getting a life’ will require you to show leadership.

“You want to set a goal that is big enough that in the process of achieving it you become someone worth becoming.”  ~ Jim Rohn

“To lead, you are required to have both competence and character.”  ~ General Norman Schwarzkopf