We often navigate life as if we’re tight roping between our yearnings to fit in and our desires to stand out.
Drift has us deceived into thinking these are mutually exclusive
To make matters worse, Drift has us convinced that the path to either requires us to be less ourselves and more like everybody else, which only serves to erode our authenticity.
We’re the only ones that really know if we’re making the most of any opportunity.
There’s this quote that says, “Hell is to meet the person you could have been at death and realize you’re not even a shadow of that person and that heaven is to meet the person you could have been and to see yourself staring back at you.”
From the lower ranks of an obscure Greek basketball division, Giannis has risen to a true “generational talent.” Better known in the United States as “The Greek Freak” he has taken the league by storm. Winning an NBA championship in 2021 and has twice been named the league’s most valuable player.
Everything about this generational talent seems rare. But what we often find in the rare trajectories of talent’s like Giannis Antetokounmpo is the incredibly uncommon commitment to common tried and tested approaches to life and leadership. Humility, discipline, grace, excellence in the mundane and a commitment to serve others. In this deep dive, we see another young talent displaying sage wisdom and approach to mastery.
“His master said to him, well done, good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21)
If we’re ever going to get serious about becoming a transformational leader - we’re going to have to develop the courage to get serious about making our lives about service.
Servant leadership is working for something that goes against your own self-interest.
That’s what makes it so perpendicular with the traditional way of the world and the traditional model we often follow. It’s not just lending a helping hand here and there. It’s subverting your own interests in the service of others.
It sounds good on paper, but we’re often met with the following question as we go about our lives.
“What’s in it for me?”
This view is the antithesis of servant leadership.
We’re wired to believe if we don’t look out for our own self interests no one else will.
To live and lead in a way that is consistently concerned with the well-being of others is becoming increasingly rare.
This way of life can’t be obtained with a certification or an advanced degree. We don’t just put on this type of view and consistently live it out.
It really is only accessed over time as we transform.
Little by little. Faithful with little. Faithful in this current assignment - transforming.
Faithful with the next assignment - transforming.
The degree to which we are faithful in our current assignment reveals the capacity in us to subvert our own desires and instead pursue arranging a transformational experience for the people we lead.
The present moment has a way of revealing the truth about what is going on in us.
Our present assignment, even with all we feel is lacking or missing, is the most useful tool for transforming us and building into us the characteristics we’re going to need in the future as transformational leaders.
Servant leadership is a habit, only developed one courageous decision at a time.
Your current assignment (especially if you don’t like this assignment) is often the tool most used to breathe into you the traits and perspectives needed to be a transformational leader.
What does an alpha leader really look like? Loud? Brash? Always imposing? For many those qualities are the only ones a leader possesses. This makes C.J. Stroud a compelling case study in defining what are really the indicators of an alpha leader. His quiet unimposing demeanor has made many question if he’s really capable of leading in the NFL. Read more to see why we think he is well prepared and is a true alpha leader.
