Leaders devote their lives to their causes. Followers devote some of their time, donate a percentage of their income, or dare a few of their friends to join.
Followers are essential, but it’s the leaders who live on the edge.
Leaders have to live way above and beyond to inspire followers to make major sacrifices for the cause. It’s just the way leadership works, if it works at all. Followers follow the example, but they never copy it perfectly.
So the challenge I think for us is, are we willing to go to the extreme? Are we willing to do in excess what most will only ever do in moderation? If not, we’re probably not the right leaders. Yet.
Or actually, forget us. The real question I want to ask is more personal, more self-centered, more frightening: am I willing to go to the extreme?
Because, like I said, leaders lead from the edges, not the middle. Or at least those are the ones we listen to. Those are the ones we follow, even if it is in moderation.
