if I asked you to think of a leader whom
would you think of I would think of
Moses standing in front of his people
with the Ten Commandments in his arms I
would think of Martin Luther King
standing before his country with a dream
in his heart I would think of Malala
standing in front of the world with the
Nobel Peace Prize in her small hand when
we think of a leader we often think of
this very dynamic one person standing
alone speaking passionately to a crowd
that person made into a leader because
others are following her I’ve been a
student and teacher of leadership for
the past three decades
and this is what I have learned that the
image that we conjure up when we think
of true leadership is a false image we
respect the leaders in our lives our
Bibles and our history books and we
often revere them even if these leaders
have never been elevated to a
mountaintop or to the steps of a
monument we elevate them in our
imagination but that high position is
not why we hold them in such a high
regard
we admire our leaders because they have
held themselves to such a high standard
and in doing so they’ve inspired us to
do the same at the age of 20 he became
king he was a fearless fighter he was
undefeated in battle he was Alexander
the great about 2,300 years ago
Alexander marched his troops through the
Persian desert it was dry it was
desolate and it was scorching hot about
30,000 of his men were tormented by
thirst and so was he a small group of
infantrymen decided to
go off and search for water they
searched and searched and they finally
came upon a small ravine of refreshing
water excitedly one of the soldiers
started to scoop up the water and rush
it back to their leader but when
Alexander saw his men coming back he
only had one concern and that was about
quenching the spirit of his troops and
so where they handed him the helmet he
took the helmet and he said thank you
showing truly appreciation thank you for
the water but then he took that same
helmet and he held it up in full view of
everyone to see and he did the
unimaginable
he took the helmet and he turned it
upside down spilling the water to the
ground the message was clear that if his
troops didn’t have anything to drink
neither would he this demonstration of
leadership is how he became known as
Alexander the Great
not because he was able to build empires
or conquer nations or conquer armies no
he became great because he was able to
conquer an instinct that most of us have
and that instinct is to think that
leaders are superior what he understood
so profoundly is that leaders aren’t
great because they have power leaders
are great because they can empower
others understanding this truth was one
of his greatest victories when he saw
the spear he was able to inspire hope
when he saw struggle he was able to
inspire success great leaders make us
feel what they feel they make us feel
that we can do the unthinkable that is
why when we awesome think of leadership
we often think of it as adoring crowds
and we
think leadership is an external quality
but leadership has always been and will
always be an internal quality to lead
outwardly you first must learn to lead
from within people always ask me how can
I become a great leader they want to
know the answers to the question of what
we’re when and even why should I be a
great leader but they’re forgetting the
most important question of all who who
am i what do I stand for what am I
willing to sacrifice for when you’re
able to answer the question of who it’s
the beginning of understanding self and
when you understand self you develop for
yourself your own personal GPS one that
will always direct you each and every
one of us every day faces all kinds of
storms of situations without a solid set
of values it will feel as if we are
experiencing our challenges and our
storms for the very first time as we try
to keep up with the ever evolving world
around us each and every one of us must
develop an inner architecture we must
develop our own core inner compass but
how do we do that we must identify what
are our values we must learn what’s
important to us and then we must take
all that information and use it to serve
others in the words of a great leader
Martin Luther King he said you don’t
have to have a college degree to serve
you don’t even have to know Plato or
Aristotle to serve you don’t even have
to know
Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve
so what do you need he went on to say
all you need to have is a heart full of
grace and a soul generated by
but some people still make the mistake
of thinking leadership is being at the
right place or the right time it’s about
opportunity or lack of opportunity
leadership begins with knowing who you
are in a small village in Eastern Europe
over a hundred years ago lived a
renowned biblical rabbi
his name was rabbi Lucia rambha zu she
was my great-great-grandfather when
rabbi zu she was on his deathbed he was
filled with great anxiety and great
anguish his student saw their beloved
rabbi filled with such the stress they
tried to calm him down and they said to
him rabbi Scioscia you were almost as
kind as Abraham and almost as wise as
Moses you have nothing to worry about
rabbi Scioscia looked at his students
and said that will not matter and I go
to heaven they’re not going to say why
wasn’t I like Abraham or why wasn’t I
like Moses they’re going to ask me why
weren’t you more like rabbis Usha at the
end of the day as leaders we need to
acknowledge who we are that means we
need to acknowledge the good and the bad
we need to acknowledge our successes but
also our shadows because none of us are
perfect
therefore we must I’ll say it again
therefore we must resist the urge to
disqualify people just because they are
not perfect instead we must Revere those
who have been able to persevere because
those who have been strong in a struggle
can teach each one of us to be strong in
a struggle and those who have been calm
in a storm can teach us to remain calm
in a storm and those who have been able
to embrace their shadows will teach us
to embrace all of who we are today we
know more about every single person
including our leaders we know their
flaws their mistakes and their shadows
but the question is how well do you know
yourself if you want to be a great
leader the transformation begins right
now
it begins with making the commitment
listening to your heart and
understanding your soul but what does
that mean that means that we have to
look at all our decisions that we’ve
made in our lives the important ones why
did we make them what values informed
those decisions knowing the answer to
those questions is how we begin to serve
ourselves and when we begin to serve
ourselves only then will you be able to
serve others there are two kinds of
people those who think they can be great
leaders and those who think they can’t
and in both cases they are right some
people still believe that when it comes
to leadership it’s reserved for the
selected privilege they believe that oh
she can be great but I can’t they
believe he has influence but I don’t I
understand both their views but it’s not
something that I endorse this is what I
believe I believe that the most common
way that we give away our power is
thinking we don’t have any that’s what I
believe
leadership is my life’s work and what I
know can be summed up in this way when
it comes to leadership leaders are not
born they are made they are made like
everything else is made through values
virtues principles and character that
means we have to lead from within when
you lead from within you will be able to
stand alone when most people follow a
crowd when you lead from within you will
be able to do what is right
not what is easy when you lead from
within you will be able to stand truth
to power and when you lead from within
you will be able to empower others to
stand in their truth and to speak to
their power but remember leadership is
not an abstract obscure godlike skill
that is only for the few of us no
leadership
exists in each and every one of you that
is why today the spotlights the
spotlight should not be on me on stage
the spotlight should be on each and
every one of you because a successful
leader doesn’t ask her audience to look
at her alone on stage a successful
leader asks her audience to look within
themselves why because every single one
of us has a quenching thirst to find our
purpose to make an impact and to leave
our mark but how do you do that
you do that by identifying your values
consulting your core inner compass and
following its direction and when you do
you [Music]
would you think of I would think of
Moses standing in front of his people
with the Ten Commandments in his arms I
would think of Martin Luther King
standing before his country with a dream
in his heart I would think of Malala
standing in front of the world with the
Nobel Peace Prize in her small hand when
we think of a leader we often think of
this very dynamic one person standing
alone speaking passionately to a crowd
that person made into a leader because
others are following her I’ve been a
student and teacher of leadership for
the past three decades
and this is what I have learned that the
image that we conjure up when we think
of true leadership is a false image we
respect the leaders in our lives our
Bibles and our history books and we
often revere them even if these leaders
have never been elevated to a
mountaintop or to the steps of a
monument we elevate them in our
imagination but that high position is
not why we hold them in such a high
regard
we admire our leaders because they have
held themselves to such a high standard
and in doing so they’ve inspired us to
do the same at the age of 20 he became
king he was a fearless fighter he was
undefeated in battle he was Alexander
the great about 2,300 years ago
Alexander marched his troops through the
Persian desert it was dry it was
desolate and it was scorching hot about
30,000 of his men were tormented by
thirst and so was he a small group of
infantrymen decided to
go off and search for water they
searched and searched and they finally
came upon a small ravine of refreshing
water excitedly one of the soldiers
started to scoop up the water and rush
it back to their leader but when
Alexander saw his men coming back he
only had one concern and that was about
quenching the spirit of his troops and
so where they handed him the helmet he
took the helmet and he said thank you
showing truly appreciation thank you for
the water but then he took that same
helmet and he held it up in full view of
everyone to see and he did the
unimaginable
he took the helmet and he turned it
upside down spilling the water to the
ground the message was clear that if his
troops didn’t have anything to drink
neither would he this demonstration of
leadership is how he became known as
Alexander the Great
not because he was able to build empires
or conquer nations or conquer armies no
he became great because he was able to
conquer an instinct that most of us have
and that instinct is to think that
leaders are superior what he understood
so profoundly is that leaders aren’t
great because they have power leaders
are great because they can empower
others understanding this truth was one
of his greatest victories when he saw
the spear he was able to inspire hope
when he saw struggle he was able to
inspire success great leaders make us
feel what they feel they make us feel
that we can do the unthinkable that is
why when we awesome think of leadership
we often think of it as adoring crowds
and we
think leadership is an external quality
but leadership has always been and will
always be an internal quality to lead
outwardly you first must learn to lead
from within people always ask me how can
I become a great leader they want to
know the answers to the question of what
we’re when and even why should I be a
great leader but they’re forgetting the
most important question of all who who
am i what do I stand for what am I
willing to sacrifice for when you’re
able to answer the question of who it’s
the beginning of understanding self and
when you understand self you develop for
yourself your own personal GPS one that
will always direct you each and every
one of us every day faces all kinds of
storms of situations without a solid set
of values it will feel as if we are
experiencing our challenges and our
storms for the very first time as we try
to keep up with the ever evolving world
around us each and every one of us must
develop an inner architecture we must
develop our own core inner compass but
how do we do that we must identify what
are our values we must learn what’s
important to us and then we must take
all that information and use it to serve
others in the words of a great leader
Martin Luther King he said you don’t
have to have a college degree to serve
you don’t even have to know Plato or
Aristotle to serve you don’t even have
to know
Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve
so what do you need he went on to say
all you need to have is a heart full of
grace and a soul generated by
but some people still make the mistake
of thinking leadership is being at the
right place or the right time it’s about
opportunity or lack of opportunity
leadership begins with knowing who you
are in a small village in Eastern Europe
over a hundred years ago lived a
renowned biblical rabbi
his name was rabbi Lucia rambha zu she
was my great-great-grandfather when
rabbi zu she was on his deathbed he was
filled with great anxiety and great
anguish his student saw their beloved
rabbi filled with such the stress they
tried to calm him down and they said to
him rabbi Scioscia you were almost as
kind as Abraham and almost as wise as
Moses you have nothing to worry about
rabbi Scioscia looked at his students
and said that will not matter and I go
to heaven they’re not going to say why
wasn’t I like Abraham or why wasn’t I
like Moses they’re going to ask me why
weren’t you more like rabbis Usha at the
end of the day as leaders we need to
acknowledge who we are that means we
need to acknowledge the good and the bad
we need to acknowledge our successes but
also our shadows because none of us are
perfect
therefore we must I’ll say it again
therefore we must resist the urge to
disqualify people just because they are
not perfect instead we must Revere those
who have been able to persevere because
those who have been strong in a struggle
can teach each one of us to be strong in
a struggle and those who have been calm
in a storm can teach us to remain calm
in a storm and those who have been able
to embrace their shadows will teach us
to embrace all of who we are today we
know more about every single person
including our leaders we know their
flaws their mistakes and their shadows
but the question is how well do you know
yourself if you want to be a great
leader the transformation begins right
now
it begins with making the commitment
listening to your heart and
understanding your soul but what does
that mean that means that we have to
look at all our decisions that we’ve
made in our lives the important ones why
did we make them what values informed
those decisions knowing the answer to
those questions is how we begin to serve
ourselves and when we begin to serve
ourselves only then will you be able to
serve others there are two kinds of
people those who think they can be great
leaders and those who think they can’t
and in both cases they are right some
people still believe that when it comes
to leadership it’s reserved for the
selected privilege they believe that oh
she can be great but I can’t they
believe he has influence but I don’t I
understand both their views but it’s not
something that I endorse this is what I
believe I believe that the most common
way that we give away our power is
thinking we don’t have any that’s what I
believe
leadership is my life’s work and what I
know can be summed up in this way when
it comes to leadership leaders are not
born they are made they are made like
everything else is made through values
virtues principles and character that
means we have to lead from within when
you lead from within you will be able to
stand alone when most people follow a
crowd when you lead from within you will
be able to do what is right
not what is easy when you lead from
within you will be able to stand truth
to power and when you lead from within
you will be able to empower others to
stand in their truth and to speak to
their power but remember leadership is
not an abstract obscure godlike skill
that is only for the few of us no
leadership
exists in each and every one of you that
is why today the spotlights the
spotlight should not be on me on stage
the spotlight should be on each and
every one of you because a successful
leader doesn’t ask her audience to look
at her alone on stage a successful
leader asks her audience to look within
themselves why because every single one
of us has a quenching thirst to find our
purpose to make an impact and to leave
our mark but how do you do that
you do that by identifying your values
consulting your core inner compass and
following its direction and when you do
you [Music]
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