Are you a leader or follower?

Do you prefer to take the lead and put yourself out front and willing to take a risk if what you do does not succeed?

Or do you prefer to avoid taking risks and follow someone else’s lead?

It is OK to be either type, you know, , , even in a management position. Some managers are better executioners of project initiatives than being able to develop strategy and getting senior managers to buy in.

It can be due to a lack of salesmanship, , , lack of confidence, , , or just not knowing how to go about it. A follower can become a leader if he wants to.

Becoming a leader is simply a matter of learning what to do, how to go about it, , , and having tools that help you lead.

Confidence comes with knowledge, , , and knowledge comes either from gaining experience or by investing in learning from others who have the experience.

Leadership traits are not something you just flip a switch and “turn on”. We wish it could be so easy.

What I believe happens is that you start investing in your knowledge and learn about leadership techniques and traits of leaders, , , and as you begin using this new-found knowledge in your work, , , you wake up one day and you are leading instead of following.

It’s not magic, , , it just happens as you begin doing things that leaders do.

Others are following your lead, , , and no one knows when the change took place in you although everyone realizes you went from following to leading.

Some people make the transition faster than others. I don’t know that there is a time line that matters.

The key here is that to become a leader, you make a decision to become a leader, , , you invest in learning how to take the lead and start doing things a leader would do and begin using tools that helps you lead.

It is always your decision in the long run, and like I said earlier, , , it is OK to be a follower, even in a manager role. If you decide to become a leader, , , invest in a mentor who can assist you in your transition.