Leaders turn knowledge into action. A real leader can inspire masses to unite behind a single cause. They are normally powerful speakers that lead by example. There conviction is so great that it makes others feel foolish when they don’t share their enthusiasm for a cause.
It is often thought that knowledge alone can lead people to take action, yet this falsity makes itself apparent on a daily basis. How many minds have you changed through conversation? How many people who’ve opposed you have agreed with you after you explained yourself?
How many of those people took action on what you said?
Did any of them? Or did they simply agree with you and do nothing about it?
By spreading knowledge without inspiration and passion, what have you really accomplished at the end of the day?
The entire school system is based off the theory that knowledge leads to action, that somehow learning specific things will cause people to take action.
How many of you learned about endangered species and the environment and took it upon yourself to take a job in the Department of Natural Resources or became an Environmentalist?
Not many of you right?
That’s because knowledge doesn’t lead to action, only those who were inspired, probably by themselves or those who had an inspirational teacher, were the only ones to take action.
It is not a lack of knowledge that creates inaction. There are a lot of people who know that doctors save lives and make a lot of money, yet not everyone is a doctor.
But how can that be?
Do you not understand that doctors save lives and make a lot of money? Why wouldn’t you want to be a doctor then?
It is only through some type of inspiration that people take action. Some people may become a doctor with the intent of curing cancer because someone they loved died from it or because someone was in a car accident that they could have saved or they want to help people for one reason or another.
People that appear to be doing nothing with their lives aren’t just uneducated, they are just uninspired, and on top of that, they don’t even possess enough leadership quality to lead themselves. They commonly work dead-end jobs 9-5 and need to be told what to do. Those who cannot even lead themselves make up a large portion of the welfare recipients in America, and if that offends you, then you are probably one of them.
The greatest movements, the greatest empires, and some of the greatest accomplishments in human history were accomplished by a very few select people because of their ability to lead. No leader can do all the work by themselves but any great leader can convince others the work is worth doing and have it done for them. This is prevalent throughout human history.
Whether for good or evil it is improbable that Germany would have started World War 2 without Adolf Hitler, that the Roman Republic would have fell to the Roman Empire without Julius Caesar, that Christianity would have spread without Jesus, that the Patriots would have made the playoffs in 2012 without Tom Brady, and that the American Revolution would have been successful without George Washington.
The list is never-ending because where anything of relevance happened, there is a leader, and it’s not just leaders that inspire the masses; leaders that inspire themselves can also achieve great things in their lives.
It is important to understand it’s all about the leader because there are a great many things wrong with the world and for some reason, people think it will change by spreading information and knowledge. It is not the spread of information or knowledge that causes change, it is the spread of knowledge or information to the hands of a leader that causes them to stand up, sound the charge, and lead others into battle armed with that knowledge and information.
Almost everyone in the United States knows or feels that killing people is wrong, but not everyone is running around fighting crime at night dressed like a superhero with a cape. Hell, not even everyone felt convicted enough to protect themselves and others by obtaining a concealed weapon permit. However, there are leaders in our police forces that have dedicated their lives to protecting people from such atrocities.
The Red Cross has dedicated their time and energy to helping those in need but again, not everyone contributes to the Red Cross or volunteers their time. Is it because they don’t know that people are starving? Of course not!
So what does a leader really do?
A leader does more than say we should help. A leader has more than sympathy. A leader does more than send his 99 cents a month to a food program. A leader sends himself instead. A leader can create or take a solution and lead those around him to help. A leader is someone who has already rented a bus and is heading to New Orleans to bring people to a FEMA site before FEMA has even reacted. Leaders take great personal interest in what they are doing.
A leaders cause is not always noble. Sometimes their abilities are used for their own interest or purposes. They are great salesmen. They will have you driving home in that brand new SUV you couldn’t afford because they convinced you it was dangerous not to have one for winter.
They can convince you of virtually anything but without leaders we’d all be sitting around staring at each other with limited action. In other words, we’d all be philosophers. We’d formulate plans on the best way to hunt deer and pick berries but with no one to take the lead on any such endeavors they’d all starve to death.
Leadership is action, without action, life is inconsequential.
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