“It is difficult to lead the charge if you think you look silly on top of a horse.”

I am often asked to describe the most important qualities of leadership. What does it take to make a good leader? There are many qualities. Today I am thinking of Mastery.

Mastery is the beginning of self-confidence. Many times, people believe they can pump themselves up with a motivational book or by attending a motivational seminar. While there are temporary positive feelings of invincibility, it doesn’t take more than a few hours back at the office for that to wear off.

True self-confidence begins with mastery. “Mastery over what?” Well, just about anything that requires some new degree of skill, anything that requires a person to truly push their performance beyond their current level of self-confidence. Most folks seldom push themselves beyond their current limits, for fear of failure. It is in the facing of that fear (fear of failure) that I see true growth, a new level of mastery. There can be no mastery without the possibility of failure.

When was the last time you truly pushed yourself beyond your limits? When was the last time you engaged in something new, something that required you to think in new ways that required more tenacity than you have ever mustered before? It isn’t going to come from a book. It isn’t going to come from a seminar. Get off the couch, go do something new. -TF