A leader is not the one who knows how to tell others what to do and motivate them to follow her. A leader is not the one who stands up for the what he believes in or inspires others to do the same. A leader is the woman, man, tree or eagle who is passionate about what they are passionate about. It is the one who has the courage and the guts to commit to that passion.

The leadership expression of life, that might come through a sentient or non sentient being, is the stubbornness to keep growing in spite of whether or not the odds are good. A sapling that strives for the light crowded by other bigger trees, the runt of the litter that ekes out the ability to receive nourishment in the first few hours of it’s life, the man who persists when many others have failed before him, these are leaders.

This is not to say that you have to have struggled to lead, only that you have to be ready and willing to because your cause and your passion are more attractive to you than the comfort of not suffering.

I am not sure if leadership is something we choose. It may be more likely that leadership is something that chooses you and persists with a fever that will not subside. If this fever finds you, this incessant longing for something, consider yourself called to lead.

The Persian poet Rumi wrote, “the longing is the answer”. He speaks here of his longing for God, the beloved. His passionate longing for greater closeness to God “I want to pitch my tent against the sky”, is what seduced his pencil to paper. Rumi found his truest depth of spiritual love in his connection to his Beloved, Shams. When Shams disappeared Rumi was lost and heart broken. Some say that Rumi’s followers killed Shams because they were jealous of Rumi’s obsession with him. Rumi was so overcome with loss and grief that he spent the rest of his life writing the love poems we read and that touch our own soul’s wisdom today.

“When it finds you give your life to it, don’t be tight lipped or stingy”, writes Oriah Mountain Dreamer of The Call. When leadership dances onto your path beckoning you forward, surrender to her flirtaceous charms. Resistance will only wear you out trying to postpone the inevitable.

Don’t wait! Answer the longing now and let your passion do what it is meant to do, lead you!

Author's Bio: 

Leela Francis is the founder of VividExistence and Vividly Woman. She is a leader and expert in the field of body, self and soul and a spiritual activist for the rights and freedoms of all beings. She is the creator of the 5 stages of VividExistence System of embodiment and has won international acclaim for her programs. courses, workshops and products. She has changed the lives of thousands across North America and she facilitates events internationally.