This one time in one of my companies, an employee said to me, “You’re not like other leaders. You’re normal”
This bugged me.
A lot.
It bugged me so much that I’m writing about it now, well over a decade later.
Yeah, I guess I hold on to things for awhile.
But seriously, am I normal?!
Do I want to be normal?
What does it actually mean to be normal and “not like other leaders”?
These are the questions I’ve asked myself and, as it turns out, they are exactly the ones we are going to explore together.
How fun.
Don’t worry though. In the end, this isn’t about me as much as it’s about you. But let’s not jump ahead quite yet. In order to get to you, we’ve first got to talk about my skin.
Me and My Skin
I spent a really long time feeling uncomfortable in my own skin.
I always knew who I wanted to be, but I wasn’t ever really sure who I actually was.
(Editor’s Note: That’s a damn good sentence right there 👆🏽👆🏽👆🏽. Read it again and contemplate whether it connects with you too).
I wanted to be a strong and confident leader who could inspire people to be their best.
I wanted to be great.
But inside I felt far less than great. ‘Strong’ and ‘confident’ were not the words I’d have ever used to describe myself.
So I did what any other normal everyday Imposter Syndrome feeling person would do: I tried to learn about leadership by copying others.
I read incessantly. I tried to use the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People in order to Win Friends and Influence People as I Dared to Lead and attempted to