Aspire to Inspire Desire

“You should aspire to do something bigger and better than this” said the one

interviewing the young teen, who decided to take matters into his own hands and chose

to dole out justice as he saw it should be at the moment. In his mind, he decided as the

perpetrator that he had every right to execute judgement, destroying the guy’s car who

had just unloaded a full bag of football field marking chalk all over and into the interior of

the “new kids” car.

The young guy had been forced to move to the new school from the rival school,

just eleven miles away. Did he ask to move? No! Did he start this conflict? No! In his own

mind, was he right for what he did, yes, because he never shied away from a fight! Did

everyone agree? No! Hence the statement above, and what a statement, “You should

aspire to something bigger and better.” It stuck in the young teens’ mind, and still does.

You may ask, “how do you know?” - because I was the teen.

Why do I tell this story? Because any person holding any position of leadership,

from parents to presidents, should always aspire to inspire desire. Consider this fact, all

leaders influence, good leaders are inspiring, but authentic leaders inspire desire in

those they lead. This is what sets authentic leaders apart from all the others because

they make a difference from the inside out.

In the story above, I aspired to nothing more than a vengeful response to satisfy

my hurt pride and to salve my personal frustration; justice on my terms if you will. All it

led to was destruction and divisiveness because my aspirations were skewed. Leaders

worth their salt will never allow this to happen in their leadership performance because

they’ve learned a different way of doing things. Their aspiration is to inspire desire in

others in order to make a positive difference in any circumstance they encounter.

This is what authentic leaders do, they make a positive difference in people and

circumstances. This is what I do. What about you?