An insightful quote by David Foster Wallace on leadership in which he describes leadership in terms of the development of human potential
A leader’s real “authority” is a power you voluntarily give him, and you grant him this authority not with resentment or resignation but happily; it feels right. Deep down, you almost always like how a real leader makes you feel, the way you find yourself working harder and pushing yourself and thinking in ways you couldn’t ever get to on your own.
In other words, a real leader is somebody who can help us overcome the limitations of our own individual laziness and selfishness and weakness and fear and get us to do better things than we can get ourselves to do on our own
Authority is earned. Authority comes when others judge you ready. Development of the potential of others in your networks is the work.
How are you working to earn the authority of others? How do you help them realise a potential that they couldn’t reach on their own? Show that potential and people will follow.
That is the future of leadership
