I want to talk to the misfits. the rebels, the black sheep, the ones who may like me have felt like a fish out of water a majority of your life. I wanna tell you that you have skills! You can lead through your special DNA. I’ve always thought some of the best trailblazers were just a little off, a little crazier than the rest of us. I mean look at Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, they are all a little different.
I recently heard a talk about leadership and some of the points I’m about to make I hope you resonate with them if you have ever felt like you did not belong or didn’t fit in. One of the first signs of being a great leader and perhaps a trailblazer is you must be unorthodox. You must be willing to be a rulebreaker, not follow the status quo or not mimic the people that surround you.
If your need to be “liked” is greater than to be your authentic, misfit, crazy self then you may not be a leader of people but you are still a leader because everyone is called to be a leader, some just can’t follow the steps to be one so they must sit and wait on a leader. Since we are all created equal we all have favor and influence. Remember everyone you meet knows something that you do not know. Don’t dismiss anyone, no matter what role they play or what their name tag says. You never know who you are talking to.
We all influence some kind or type. Remember we never know who is watching but someone always is watching. But here’s the problem with America, we are in love with affluence more than influence. The stage is what gives you affluence but not necessarily influence. We want to glorify the light but not the leadership. We chase the people on the red carpet, not the ones who put them on the red carpet. But it’s the influence that makes a great leader and you must protect it with your audience or you’ll lose your affluence as well.
Too many people out there trying to be something they are not. As I said yesterday, narcissists fake it to make people think they made it. Trying to look apart with the car, shoes, watch, hair, nails, and tailor-made designer suits can only fool some people because the look never fools God who gives you the gift to start. God looks at the heart and you cannot produce what you are not! You cannot fake knowledge!
If you try to manage people, they will always leave you. People cannot be managed but procedures can be managed and measured. To be a good leader, you lead people, manage procedures, and measure. Because people and procedures are always changing. The only thing that stays the same in this life is death. If you are one to say, “well we have always done it this way”, you are losing right now. If you think “if it isn’t broken why fix it”, you are losing right now. You cannot be in love with old procedures because you can never opt out of change. Change is going to happen whether you vote for it or not. Stay stuck if you choose the rest of the world is moving ahead.
And as you build your tribe, your team, you need to know only one thing, do they have the same vision as you. If they do not align with your values, your dreams, and goals, their vision looks different than your vision, then you have division. If there is division then the ways must part. If they leave you, let them! Do not beg or ask anyone to stay with you. If they decide to do without you then you can do without them!
I hope you read something in this that resonated with you and gave you hope that you need to embrace your authentic, crazy, misfit self. Take your vision, dreams, and goals to the level you were born to do. Stay in your lane because the folks behind and beside you are doing the same you’re doing just maybe a little differently.
Dealing to Healing 