If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you  are a leader. – John Quincy Adams, Sixth US President 

For many years as a young man, I assumed that it is the job of the people at the top to lead the organisation. I thought that until you had a ‘position’ or occupied an ‘office’ you are not required to make any contribution to the organisation beyond what you are paid for.

So I did nothing other than what my job required. This meant that I stayed in one place and got frustrated and angry when things were not moving forward. I felt helpless as if I was tied to a chair with no room to move. I could feel the pain of stagnation resulting from my self imposed limitation.

One day at a seminar, I had the words ‘You need no title to be a leader’ and the proverbial penny dropped. I can lead without a tittle! It occurred to me that if I was going somewhere with my life I might just move this department forward and in the process move the organisation forward.

Leadership is about you going somewhere and inspiring others by your actions.  

You are a leader and you do not need to be the chief executive to make a difference. You can make a difference where you are.

In his book The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in Life Robin Sharma tells the story of Ann, whom he described as a lovely woman who has a strong understanding of what it means to be a leader and lead without a tittle. Three things from Anna’s story that could help you in your job:

1. With the power of choice, Anna made a decision to give nothing less than the very best to her job.
2. Anna considered her work to be deeply important and essential to the smooth running of her organisation.
3. Every day, Anna finds ways to challenge herself and make her job into something really meaningful to her and valuable to her employers.

You too can take charge,  to take responsibility and to take action.

To take charge demands courage conviction and confidence. Yes you can make a difference, yes you can impact the lives of others for good and yes you can go forward with your dreams.

To take responsibility requires you to fully understand that it is your action or inaction that got you where you are and it will be your action that will get you where you want to be.

To take action makes talk cheap. Now is the time to make it happen. Remember Noah didn’t wait for it to rain before he built an ark. Neither should you wait for anyones permission. Begin today to take the necessary steps to build the life that up till today you have only dreamed about.

Things may come to those who wait, but only the things left by those who hustle.’~ Abraham Lincoln

Here are three things to remember as you go into this week.

1. Take charge and be the leading influence in your life.
2. Take responsibility and acknowledge the gap between where you are and where you want to be.
3. Take action and begin to move in the direction of your dream. 

What steps will you take this week to move in the direction of your dream?