You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader
I am in Part 2 of Mark Sanborn’s book, You Don’t Need a Title to be a Leader. The book continues to challenge me in not only leadership but in life as well. Part 2 deals with the Six Principles of Leadership.
Thoughts from Principle #1–The Power of Self-Mastery:
- The fact is, all leadership begins with self-mastery. You can’t lead others until you can first lead yourself.
- To truly lead, and make a difference in the world, you must always start with yourself.
- Leaders don’t interact with the world around them because they have to. They do so because they want to.
- . . . those who lead effectively tend to view such circumstances as opportunities.
- The challenge for anyone is to make a life while making a living.
- Thinking helps separate the mundane things in your life from the significant.
My favorite section under this principle is under the subtitle, Motivation. Mark Sanborn lists 8 ways to keep ourselves motivated:
- Make time to reflect.
- Remember to dream.
- Mirror those who are successful around you.
- Retreat to advance.–take time for retreats to review your life and objectives.
- Mentor someone else.
- Enjoy the journey.–take a moment to be grateful for what you have.
- Live like a victor, not a victim.–we can learn from difficult situations or languish in them. The decision is ours.
- Search for the pony.–look for the pony responsible for all the manure.
This continues to stretch me in many areas of my life. I highly recommend a copy of your own!!!

