There are three things a leader does. Anyone with a desire to lead can walk this path. Anyone who is walking this path is actually leading people.

Free yourself.

For a leader, this means you must make sure your life is optimally designed to do what's important before what is urgent.

Free others.

This means living a life that empowers and brings freedom to others.

Serve every day.

This means seeking out the needs of those of those we lead, and intentionally taking the role of the mentor and the guide. The leader doesn't have to be the hero of the story. In fact, in the best stories, the leader isn't the hero at all. She's working to gain and maintain and grow trust. She discovers that leadership is not about personal happiness. Leadership is about those around me having the ability to dream, hope, and grow.

The only way this will happen is if the leader, in truth, cares more about people than metrics or numbers or spreadsheets or lag measures. When a leader genuinely places the needs of those she's leading above her own, integrity and trust become the hallmark of her leadership style. Leaders grow in serving.

And, as they do, something amazing happens. People follow.