At 16, I read, Be All You Can Be! by the leadership guru, John C. Maxwell, and got hooked on leadership.
By the end of my reading, I knew I wanted to help leaders succeed; I wanted to massively empower leaders.
I became engrossed in my leadership passion, started talking about it, and then the attacks began.
The number one ‘bullet’ that was used to attack me was, “You’re too young to talk about leadership.”
My attackers believed that I had no business with leadership because I did not have age or experience on my side.
After some years of these attacks, I gave in. I stopped talking about leadership; my voice was silenced for ten years.
My leadership ‘exile’ ended when I realized that “You’re too young …” was a big lie and it worked only because I believed it.
From 16, I knew that I have the gift of leadership and strong leadership instinct. However, that lie stopped my flow.
What lie is stopping you from doing what you were born to do? What lie have you believed about yourself? “You’re too: tall, short, thin, big, poor, rich, skilled, unskilled, black, white, talkative, quiet, etc.” The list is endless.
These are all lies and here is how to recognize them. If you have these three things in place, then “you’re too …” is a lie.
Passion: If you have passion for what you do and you are wired for it, then “you’re too …” is a lie. A bird is not a lion; so, to call a lion a bird is a lie.
When people decide to ignore your wiring and name you based on their imagination, do not buy it. It is a lie.
Learning: Beyond passion, if the subject matter is something that you are willing to invest time, energy, and resources to learn, that means you are committed and that makes “you’re too …” a big lie.
When I discovered my leadership gift, I committed my time, energy, and resources to learn and practice leadership and my age should not have been an issue.
Skill: If you have acquired and grown your skill in your passion and you know you can get the job done, then “you’re too …” is a lie.
It is one thing to have a fleeting passion, but if you have invested the time to acquire the skill and you can confidently executive the task, then you deserve the respect that skill confers.
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