Imagine this for a moment:

•Your boss has just given you a greater leadership position within the office team
•The charity organization you volunteer your time every weekend has asked you to lead a new project
•Your  sports team needs a new captain and turned to you

How would you react? Do you get excited and jump right in? Or does your stomach churn, you feel sick, and ask "why me?"

If you're one to get excited and look forward to a new leadership role, congratulations – you're a natural leader: you accept more responsibility with ease and will probably do a good job. On the other hand, if you feel tense and nervous and unable to function just thinking about more leadership responsibilities, then you're a reluctant leader.

The good news is there's a cure for the reluctant leader.  And all it takes are two simple steps!  Warning!!  Even if you are a natural leader, reading the rest of this article will only make you a far better leader!

Step 1:  Lead Yourself First

Instead of giving myself reasons why I can’t, I give myself reasons why I can!

Instead of saying “I can’t do this”, spend your time saying “How can I do this to the best of my ability”.  While this seems like a ridiculously simple first step, it’s the most powerful first step you’ll ever take in your life.  The study of Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), also called the art and science of personal excellence, tells us the brain is like a computer program and whatever we say to ourselves becomes the code that runs our brains and our life. 

Write a negative code (“I can’t do this”) and you get a negative feeling, a bad emotion and a lousy outcome.  Write a positive code, “How can I do this to the best of my ability”, and you have a far better chance of getting a positive outcome as NLP has shown us that whatever we believe becomes our reality.

Step 2:  Have a clear goal in mind as a leader, and the emotional energy to get there

Your goals are the road maps that guide you
and show you what is possible for your life.
- Les Brown -

If your race has no finish line, how do you know how fast to run, how much energy to put in at the start, or where to run to?  Impossible isn’t it?  So why not make your life as a leader as smooth as possible just by setting a target to aim for, a goal to achieve.  Just remember - be specific with your goal and give your goal a deadline.  Most important of all, ask yourself why this goal is a must in your life and give yourself a super reason to succeed!  This is so important it’s worth repeating.  Give yourself a super reason to succeed, think of all the pleasure you’ll experience as the leader, all the joy, happiness, success and recognition you’ll enjoy.  Think of all the pain you’ll avoid too, just by being an effective leader who’s followed this simple two-step plan.

It’s ok if you’re a reluctant leader.  It only means you face different challenges at the start – challenges that will disappear when you use the two-step plan outlined here.

Make yourself the leader you know you are – NOW!

It is the nature of man to rise to greatness if greatness is expected of him
- John Steinbeck -