The Great Pre-Requisite to Leadership

How does one earn the right to lead in the next generation? Is it a birthright? The Luck of the Draw? The right education? Or is there a greater pre-requisite to leadership? I believe there is one factor necessary in order to earn the right to lead and influence the lives of others that far outweighs any other…Pain.

Here are a few of my Most Current Thoughts on a not-too-popular-but-all-too-necessary topic for leaders… pain.

1.  We Endure Pain for the Prize.

I know it might sound cliche, but the truth is, there is no reward without pain. Ask an Olympic Athlete. You don’t get to stand on the podium, or even compete in the games, if you aren’t willing to endure the pain of training. That’s why there are millions of us at home watching and only a select few on the course competing.

The same is true in our lives as well. If we want to reach a greater place of influence or promotion or leadership, we must be willing to endure the measure of pain congruent with the level of achievement we seek. If we want our lives to count, then we must resolve that there will be pain. As Seth Godin says in his new book, “Linchpin,” “You can’t fit in and stand out at the same time.” So if we decide to stand out, we must be willing to endure a measure of pain to be exceptional.

2.  We Endure Pain for the Platform.

One of my favorite leadership sayings is, “Your Pain is your Platform.” Unfortunately, too few leaders like to admit this. It’s often hard for many of us to look back on the most painful places in our leadership life, learn from those moments and allow vulnerability to trump pride and fear to the degree that others actually profit from our pain.

Some of the darkest and hardest days of my life are now some of the most powerful teaching points of my life story. We don’t lead from what we know, we lead from what we’ve endured. Our pain IS our platform.

3.  We Endure Pain for the Promise.

At the end of the day, our last day is not the end of our days. In other words, eternity awaits. This world has a way of temporizing our vision to only see that which is immediately in front of us. Going through painful situations positions us for perspective. In our moments of greatest pain, we are acutely aware that this world is not all there is.

There is a hope filled eternity that awaits on the other side of our pain. There is a cloudless sky at the other end of our flooded path. There is a promise of redemption hiding behind the shackles of our momentary pain. A redemption that out weighs any earthly heartache or emotional wound. A redemption that allows us the perspective of eternity.

4.  We Endure Pain for the Privilege.

I have become convinced that pain is the admission price of leadership. You can’t learn the experience of leadership from a book anymore than you can learn the experience of a roller coaster from the ground. In order to have the privilege of influence on the life of another, each of us must first walk through the fiery threshold of pain.

I recognize the disappointment this may be for some of us who are new to all this, however, I have never been more convinced that any leader worth following is a leader who has taken a few arrows in the back, a few shots at the heart and a few blows to the ego.

In conclusion, I give us, the leaders of the next generation, a challenge to dare to lead this generation, to be courageous enough to endure this inevitable weigh of pain, that we might be trusted with the influence of the lives of those who would choose to follow us.

Enduring with you,

Matt Keller