by Jackie Simmons

“Leaders” are often not the elected or even the ones who say: “Follow me”. Especially in business, saying “Follow me” is often a recipe for broke-ness, especially when you are starting a new venture or expanding into a new market.

For Margret, leadership was the furthest thing from her mind! She had recently moved and just wanted to build a quiet little acupuncture practice with a side of crystal light therapy and perhaps some supplements and oils for dessert. She wanted to be profitable in a very “safe” way — without making waves or calling attention to herself. Not wanting to be “seen” as controversial, simply wanting to feel economically stable and safe.

There’s an inherent conflict here. Potential clients didn’t know she existed and therefore she wasn’t making the money she wanted. Margret had cutting edge technologies that no one knew about. And her facial rejuvenation treatments could roll back time so her clients looked and felt younger. Her resistance to being seen was preventing her ideal clients from being aware that the solution to their challenges with aging was in their own backyard. A sudden abandonment by her clientele forced Margret to become willing to be seen if she wanted to stay afloat. Once she started speaking out about the problems she solved and the results her clients achieved, she began teaching her clients to speak out about their experiences, and her business grew. In fact, she earned in one month almost as much as she had in the previous year.

Notice: Margret learned to speak out about her services in a way that her ideal clients could hear and then she taught others how to do that on her behalf. This was worth repeating because in the annals of history, true Leaders are not the ones who say: “Follow me,” true leaders are the ones who say: “I’ll go first”.

What does leadership look like for you? Where are you willing to go first?

Don’t wait, others are waiting for you to take action so that they can follow you!