And if you’ve read The Leader Who Had No Title, I talk about it a lot, the leader versus victim mentality.
You have a choice when you go to work every day, when you show up in business every day, you have a choice, you can be a victim, or you can be a leader. You can’t be both. And what’s the hallmark of a victim? Well, you give away your power. You say, “Well, I’m not the boss. I don’t need to bring on my A-Game today.”
Or, “I went through a divorce 10 years ago and I’m going to blame my ex spouse and give away my power, and be a bitter person versus an optimistic leader.”
That’s what victims do, they say, “Well, I’m resigned to average. Why should I take the time to read a book, to build a friendship, to transcend a fear? Why should I do that?”
That’s how victims think, they use words like I hate and I can’t, and that would never work.
And they love to criticize because every victim was once a dreamer who got hurt, and now they sit back in their armchairs and they criticize other people because they’re too frightened to get into the game. You can be a victim, not only in your work, but in your life, or you can be a leader. And as you know, you can lead without a title. I have seen janitors behave like leaders, I have seen taxi drivers bring on their A-Game, I’ve seen so called ordinary people running so-called ordinary jobs with a sparkle in their eye, and they work with love. They work with attention to detail, they work like their work is the most important work in the world.
