magnt

I was chatting with a friend about how this past year I’d noticed the brilliance of the folks around me. They had these insights and moments that were such gold, I would just sit there awestruck.

People are like that sometimes right? Beautiful, insightful, thoughtful, creative, and wise. However, my friend just laughed and said, “The thing that’s stood out to me this past year are how stupid people are.” I don’t know why but I was honestly surprised. The more I’ve thought about it though the more I’ve come to the conclusion that we’re both right. As humans we seem to have this incredible capacity for both beauty and stupidity.

However, at the end of the day I’d rather focus on the beautiful stuff in people.

Photo Credit: Bruce McKay’s photostream

If you read our last post on this topic you’ll know that our working definition of leadership is “influence”.  If you’re carrying influence in someone’s life then you are, at some level, leading that person.  On the flip side if you have a position, title, tenure, or whatever thing you believe deems you a leader but you aren’t influencing people, then guess what? Read the rest of this entry »