I heard the news yesterday morning and it made me ask a question: how can a man who has worked so hard to reach the pinnacle of success want to step down? If you have not heard the news, the Pope will retire on February 28th.
Almost everyone in the world knows who the Pope is; he is the leader of the largest church in the world. Most everyone would agree that he is a good leader. To become the Pope, to get to that place in the Catholic Church, you must have been a good leader for many years.
This brings up a question for our week on good leaders: do they have tough times? I asked the question about facing tough times on my Facebook page yesterday to see what others would say about it.
One of the best responses was from my good friend and founder of the Association of Woman Entrepreneurs, Tera McHugh. She wrote the following:
“My secret is surrounding myself with people that believe in me, often more than I believe in myself! People that I feel comfortable being vulnerable with & people that respect me enough to be honest and supportive! It’s all about having a powerful peer group!!”
What most people call a “tough day” a leader like the pope or, say, the president of the United States would call that a “normal day.” These people did not get to leadership positions by letting things get to them.
A good leader is someone who makes choices when they appear to have no choice. For years people would tell leadership me about qualities they viewed in me. As a leader you do not stop and ask yourself if you are a leader; you make a decision and keep moving forward.
I knew a young boy whose mother was in a car accident. The boy was able to talk with his mom and get hold of emergency crews. Talking with his mom in that tough time was not something any little boy would be expected to do. He just acted, doing those things he had seen someone else do in a movie. All his actions were that of what we call a leader, making the tough choices without feelings getting involved.
Good leaders surround themselves with other leaders who build and encourage them to make the choices when most of us could not get past the emotions of the decisions that need to be made.
Sometimes a leader must make the tough choice of knowing when he cannot continue to lead. That is when they make the choice to step down and find the best person to continue with the vision they started.
So what is your challenge today? Are you able to make the choices that need to be made? Are you ready to become a good leader?
I’m Tim Gillette, the Rocker Life Coach. It’s time to live your dreams, to love what you do and share it with those you love. Are you ready to make 2013 a year that rocks?
