Passion, Not Position

"Leadership is no longer about your position. It's now more about your passion for excellence and making a difference. You can lead without a title."

--Robin Sharma

I just loved this quote when it landed in my email inbox recently. The last few years I've been keeping a document with quotes that I like. I find that having the right quote is a great speech opener for the rare times I'm at a podium. When I served as a board chair several years ago I always opened up our Executive Committee meetings with a quote that I felt captured the mood of the work before us. The organization was going through some challenging times both financially and regarding personnel issues so it was nice to know as we sat down together that Winston Churchill or Mahatma Ghandi, for example, had words of wisdom apt for our challenges.

I liked this quote because I truly believe you can lead without a title or position. And I don't believe you can be a successful leader, even with a title, if you don't have a passion for excellence and a desire to create meaningful change. I'm learning new leadership skills all the time. Quite often from someone who is not in a traditional leadership role. We all have so much to learn from each other if we'll only be open to those lessons.

This idea of leading without title or position is perfectly exemplified by a woman I am serving with on a YMCA board. She is sixty years old and just received her bachelor's degree. In her younger years she had to care for siblings and couldn't attend college, but she didn't let this fact stop her from having an interesting career. She is an excellent people connector and has mastered the art of speaking diplomatically and still asking for what she wants. People in positions of authority rely on her to open doors and make introductions. She greases a lot of wheels! She is so young and vibrant. In my mind she exemplifies a true community leader.

Passion, not position. That idea has real meaning to me.