Embrace the ROLE, with or without the TITLE

Leadership is a lifestyle. Most people think of it as a rank. That's the— that's— get over that. Then the next higher level is it's a responsibility to see those around me rise. And then the highest level of leadership is you embrace a lifestyle. You can't lead a company. You can only manage a company, manage processes, but you can only lead people. That's how it works. Leadership is a human experience. And most of us think of ourselves as the leader because we're the founders and we're the bosses and we're the most senior people. So clearly, I'm the leader, right? But we're confusing that I'm leading the company, or I'm at the head of the company, or I have authority over the systems and the people, but I haven't really yet embraced the responsibility of what it means to be a leader. And it's like the choice to become a parent. It's the choice to embrace the lifestyle of being a parent, because you change your life. You can't take vacations whenever you want. You can only take them over holidays, school holidays. You're giving up certain freedoms. You're spending your money in a completely different way, right? You're losing out on sleep. You add stress to the system and you don't stop being a parent when you go to work. You don't stop being a leader when you come home at the end of the day. It is the choice to embrace an entirely different lifestyle, which is why people talk about it being lonely. You lose certain freedoms. When you're just one of the guys, you can make certain jokes. When you become the leader, you can't make those jokes anymore. It's just not allowed, right? And it's only because of your position. That's it. Just like a parent, you just have to act differently.

Yeah.

Right. And so for those who truly embrace the lifestyle, like being a parent, it is perhaps one of the most rewarding things you can ever do. But you don't know when those rewards happen. 'Cause you're investing in the kid, investing in the kid, investing in the kid, investing in your people, investing in your people, investing in your people. And that one day that you see your, your, your, your 7-year-old sharing with your 5-year-old, that one day that you see your team come to the aid of each other without asking you for help, you sit back and that, that glow, all the sacrifice is worth it.