You are what you make of yourself, obviously. No one is going to do that for you. But with all of the ripe opportunities out there, how can you effectively focus on what to make of yourself? Do you have the skills it takes to make up a leader? Or are you game to see how leadership can be efficiently and methodically bred into a person, allowing them to can take control of their life?

Leaders Are More Than the Boss

Think about leadership for a moment. Who do you see? Is it your boss, a parent, that outgoing kid from your undergrad business class? Stop picturing a person and look for the qualities that create a good leader. Those can be discovered, learned and honed in your life. And not just so you can nab that promotion or expand your business, but so you can be at the forefront of your own life leading yourself to even greater heights.

Is It All a Bunch of…?

Real people make a real success of themselves. It happens every day, multiple times a day. And in most cases it has very little to do with circumstances and mainly to do with that person’s ability to lead.

The essential qualities that make up leadership – like a keen perception, the ability to organize and a drive to move forward, just to name a few – can be taught. It’s all a matter of willingness and a good teacher, which are likely easier to land than you think.

Sure, there are those who seem born to lead (General Patton had generations of military leaders mixed into his DNA cocktail) but that is the exception, not the rule. The methodology and science of leadership are out there for the taking – you only need to recognize the opportunity.