It was the first day of a two-day management workshop that I was conducting in San Diego for a corporate client. I began with the statement, "If You Are A Leader, Please Stand Up," and was surprised when only a handful of the participants got to their feet. How would you answer if I asked you the same question? If your title is director, vice president or CEO, of course you would feel compelled to answer "Yes." However, if your title is scientist, physician, administrator or marketing analyst, would you hesitate to place yourself in the category of leader?

I'm reminded of a time in the 1980's when I could best be described as a "reluctant leader." My title, Manager of Training, certainly implied a responsibility for providing leadership. However, I felt somewhat hesitant to lead an effort designed to dramatically transform the company where I worked from a functional organization to one that was team-based. The mandate had been issued from corporate headquarters to initiate this transition, but the actual "how" was left up to the individual divisions.

My management turned to me to design processes and training that would respond to this organization re-design. The truth be told, at that time I didn't know a lot about teams or transforming organizations. As I bemoaned my ambivalence about this challenge to a colleague, he delivered a well-placed verbal kick to the posterior end of my ambivalence. "If not you, who? If not now, when?" he stated. I doubt if he knew that his quote came from the Talmud or that he was exercising leadership, but his comment was exactly what I needed to propel me into action.

What could you do today to demonstrate leadership as defined by John Quincy Adams? How could you, like my colleague, inspire others to do more of the following?

• Dream

  When people stop dreaming about possibilities for their careers, they often loose that spark of magnetism that makes them unique. Leaders often see the unknown talent and potential in the people around them and take the time to point out these untapped qualities. Who could you help today by encouraging that they use a special talent?

• Learn

  A universal trademark of successful leaders is willingness to coach and mentor less experienced people. These individuals are generous with their time in sharing hard earned lessons from work and life. They also can communicate how additional education can be a springboard to career success. Their encouragement can instill the confidence necessary to take employees to heights never imagined. Who could you teach, coach or encourage to pursue additional education today?

• Do

  Psychologists have been reporting for years that we only use a fraction of our potential. In my Communication Skills for Managers course for physician executives at the Harvard School of Public Health, we have an exercise that involves a commitment from these physicians to speaking more on their professional mission or passion. They are encouraged to design a "signature speech," one that can be delivered repeatedly at conferences and in their communities. Months and sometimes years after graduating from the program, physicians report that they are speaking at conferences all over the world, in places they never imagined. Who can you encourage today to stretch their comfort zone and do things they never thought possible? It might mean encouraging someone to apply for a specific job, submit a paper, deliver a presentation or take the lead on a project. Your words could make a difference in what an individual accomplishes in both the short and long term.

• Become

  When we take on new assignments, master new skills or overcome unrealistic fears, we grow both professionally and personally. With each success our self-esteem grows, allowing us to take on even more challenging assignments. We then have the opportunity to become mentors to other people. There is a certain sense of confidence and calmness that results from this professional journey we have taken. We know that much of what we have achieved has been done by standing on the shoulders of the leaders who nurtured us along the way. Now it is our turn to help others, as the old US Army recruiting slogan stated, "Be all that they can be."

Making a difference as a leader does not require an impressive title or a corner office. All that is required is a willingness to inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more. The rewards for exercising this type of leadership are priceless, lives will be changed and your influence in the organization will grow tremendously.

You now have the secret to advancing your leadership career. Put a plan together to get on-going feedback on how you are perceived.

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