Courage and Sacrifice 3/5/10

In one of John Maxwell's books he writes, "The heart of good leadership is sacrifice," and I believe this is true because without true sacrifice, you can't lead. In your heart you must be willing to give up your wants and needs for the wants and needs of others, because truly you should care more about the success as a team than the success of yourself individually. I don't think you can be considered a "good" leader unless you're selfless and are willing to take sacrifice to an intense level...as said before you have to be willing to take risks and step out into the unknown in order to increase your leadership potential.

When looking at those who you influence, courage must be evident. I think this varies with the person or the sport, but personally I show courage by being able to stand up for my own ways and beliefs, no matter what others say about them. In Leadership Gold it says, "I can't lead people if I need people" and this makes sense. Not in an arrogant way considering technically everyone needs people, but in a sense that at times a true leader must move forward, taking a courageous step and not waiting for others' approval. I'm not great at this of course, but I'm really working on it because I believe, or hope, that if others see me being courageous and not trying to blend in with the crowd then they will admire this and want to follow.
Your dedication to potential must remain stronger than your desire to appease others.

You have to have courage to lead because you can only take great steps ahead if you risk something in return. The whole point of leading is to take others where they are too afraid to go themselves without someone else taking that first step; you must be willing to sacrifice your own feelings of contentment and be courageous in order to move forward. Martin Luther King Jr. said, "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stand at times of challenge and controversy." For your true character to come out as a leader you must first be willing to show courage.