Her students saw the leader before she did.
Today we meet the fullest expression of this energy, the best version of She Leads When Invited: the Influential Leader.
The Influential Leader has stopped getting frustrated while waiting for the invitation and has started preparing for it with purpose. When you are fully living this energy, the leadership you offer is so clearly in service of the people around you that the invitation becomes almost inevitable.
At this level, your voice carries real collective power. Not because you claimed it. Because the people behind you freely gave it to you. And that kind of leadership, the earned kind, the invited kind, the kind that truly represents the people it serves, has a durability that no amount of forced authority can match.
I honestly didn’t see myself as a leader, as a role model, until my students basically called me out on that and flat out told me that’s who I am. I had spent too many years where I was basically hiding from myself. I would do things, but I would pull back. My students didn’t give me any wiggle room, and there was no longer a way to hide from the light. Because the light was me. The light was on while I was teaching. My students let me know that I was their leader, their role model.
Here’s something to ponder. The reluctance to lead is not a flaw. It’s the whole point. The leader who doesn’t need the role is often the one most worthy of it. She leads because she was asked. She speaks because the people she represents need a voice. And what comes through her isn’t her opinion. It’s the truth of the collective, offered back to them clearly enough that they can finally move toward it together.
Find your happy. Love what you do. Make a difference. Come back to me safely. See ya!
