Leadership — standing for possibilities bigger than ourselves

Leadership is not something that's gained because of birth or tenure. It's about a future that we're out to create—not based on any actuality, or clear-cut pathways to get there, but rather on the stand we take for having that future happen. It is something each of us can bring to that with which we're involved—our day-to-day lives, our families, our communities, our nations. Leaders are ordinary men and women who dare to be related to possibilities bigger than themselves, attracted by the world that's opened up by their vision and their commitment.

To assume that leaders just started out as extraordinary, however, is to overlook what it took along the way. Nine times out of 10, leaders face being thwarted or think they may be inadequate for the task. Taking a stand for a future when it's only a possibility is a purely existential act and exists only in language—in our saying.

The reality, conditions, and circumstances of the future do not exist as facts. They exist only as a product of our conversations—making language and communication the most important and fundamental access to fulfilling what matters, what's important, what's possible.