A Crown Does Not Make a King
Most people identify themselves with their jobs, or the roles they take in life. Nowadays, anyone can be creative and assign themselves a snazzy, fancy name to a job position. They get their sense of importance and self-value from a “title”.
You may buy your own “crown” or someone may “crown” you. Or you may Game-of-Thrones your way into getting that “crown”. What matters is the end game, about how you feel about yourself, right?
Wrong. People who are self-conscious about their “position” are also self-conscious about their reputation and what other people think about them. They may not admit it but the upside of having this sensitivity is it can be their salvation. The downside is it can be that their hubris causes their downfall.
A “title” grants the holder a list of commands that people obey just because it is expected of them, and often not because they want to do it. This “obedience” or “compliance” is often because of a fear of the consequence of the “not doing what they are told”. This is often accompanied by resentment and after a while, a rebellion ensues.
A true leader has followers who respects his word and acts in support of him/her out of love. This leader does not need to be “the boss” of anybody, he/she possesses a prominent voice that people listen to with reverence. The leader’s impact is deep and long-lasting.
One can argue that a leader can both be feared and revered, but usually “fear” and “reverence” in this case becomes a matter of projection on the part of the follower. Meaning that, on one hand, a person who feels “fear” towards a leader is afraid of his/her own failure and his/her own shadow. On the other hand, the person who feels “reverence” towards a leader is inspired to win his/her personal battles and shine his/her own light.
Foregoing the possession of a “crown”, without any titles, I ask you, as a True Leader: Would you rather be FEARED? or REVERED?
