33. Leaders wear their passion on their sleeve 

In 2005 I conducted a research study into the origins of leadership. My goal was to understand the early signs and behaviors of emergent leadership. My theory was that if you could identify from new leaders the characteristics and behaviors common in them you might be able to look for these characteristics in younger people and see if the behaviors later correlated to leadership ability and action. Hence predict who might become a leader. Why does this matter? IF you can identify an emergent leader early on you can help them to develop themselves even faster and in the process make them an even better leader. Hey I am a leadership coach after all!

I found some interesting things out in the study and I do believe there is a possibility of predicting who might become a leader. However Tom Peters rule about passion reminded me of one of the things I discovered in the research. Leaders have a deep seated passion that influences their behaviors and interactions with others. They truly do wear it on their sleeves. They become the lightning rods that focus human energy and effort toward a noble goal or purpose.

Passion is like the glue of leadership it holds things together.

Challenge: What is your passion? Have you found it? If yes share, if no take my coaching module on finding your inner passion. In it I will show you a process you can use to discover your passion and purpose