Being a leader is about caring…caring about people, inspiring other people to care…to care about doing a great job, to care about exceeding expectations, to care about doing the right thing even when it is going to cost more than you want to pay. 

It seems to me that NO ONE CARES—about anything.  The people I’ve had the opportunity to work with only care about how the outcome of a certain project is going to affect them…not the company, not the lives of the people that work at the company but rather everyone wants to know “how is this going to affect ME”.  And quite frankly, most of the time, I can’t blame them.  Most corporate cultures today breed this type of mentality.  It comes down from the top.  The environments in which we work are so political it nearly makes me sick.  By political I mean when people choose their words and actions based on how they want others to react rather than how they really feel.  I see it EVERYDAY.  It is sad.  For instance, so often people will tell me how they feel about something that is happening at work but put them in a room full of people, some of which happen to be their bosses and they sing an entirely different tune!  When I ask, “Why do you do that?  Why did you just sit there and lie?”  They say things like, “It’s not worth it” or “Yeah, and have him upset with me – no thanks” or “It won’t make a difference” or “He doesn’t care, why should I”.  I could go on and on, but what it boils down to is that no one cares enough to speak up. 

My thought on this is that standing up for what is RIGHT is not about the company, it’s not about your boss or how it is going to affect you and your career.  It is simply about having principles and standing up for them – that’s it.  It’s about doing what’s right for the sake of doing what’s right!  If you see something wrong, say so.  It really is that simple.  If you see people being mistreated at work, say something about it.  If you see people doing something you don’t agree with, speak up!  If you catch someone in a lie, call them on it.  Chance are, this won’t go over very well but guess what, real leaders AREN’T AFRAID TO BE CHALLENGED and real leaders AREN’T AFRAID TO CHALLENGE OTHERS.  Great leaders are slightly unreasonable.  Great leaders take people out of their comfort zones.  If you’re like most people, you’re thinking, yeah, in a perfect world, I could actually speak up but at my company you just can’t do that.  Well, the truth is, you can, but you CHOOSE not to.  You are making a choice.  When you speak up, if you are an intelligent, thoughtful person, and if what you are saying is accurate, chances are they are not going to hold it against you.  You will probably be respected even more than if you just sit there and agree with what everyone is saying and doing just because it is easier. 

If you have the power to change things for the better, do it!  Don’t just sit there and collect a paycheck.  We were put on this earth to make a difference—to make it better—to Make Extraordinary Things Happen.  What we do on a daily basis really has little to do with us and more to do with everyone else.  The world is so much bigger than us.

It’s our jobs as leaders to inspire others to care but first we must care! 

People Make Extraordinary Things Happen! ^™