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Leadership is not a hierarchy.  From the vantage point of the ranks; however, it looks like one. Logic says survival of the fittest, the most talented ascend to the top, but this isn’t always the case.  The most senior leaders in any organization are not necessarily the smartest people in the room. The truly brilliant know they are surrounded by others who are, in fact, smarter, and relish the opportunity to rub shoulders and learn.

The irony in my leadership journey is that I thought I’d get to a place where I knew the answer to every question, could solve any problem, and at that point I’d be on top.  Now I know that the journey never ends, and no one ever has every answer.  It doesn’t mean I can’t be a great leader. It just means I will always be discovering.

What we learn in any given day crosses the spectrum from the mundane to the momentous, as evidenced by this sampling of insight coming my way in the last 24 hours:

My super cute, waterproof fashion boots really serve no functional purpose in snow.  As I push my cart to the car, it's apparent I would have been better off in the ski boots I warily eyed a woman in the grocery store sporting.

It is possible to listen to my iPod in my rental car.  All that’s needed is the right cable, available courtesy of Nate’s room, which is a warehouse of auxiliary cords for any electronic product you could ever dream of juicing. Who knew?

Despite the precision required for baking, it doesn’t have to be curtains for the batch of cookies when you accidentally add one more tablespoon of cocoa powder than stated in the recipe. In fact, these types of missteps make the delicacy uniquely yours. This, I believe, is how that nebulous ingredient called “extra love” came into being.

Nelson Mandela knew that if he was ever going to do the work of freeing an entire people, he needed to first free himself.  “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”  Makes me wonder where in life I’m holding myself back.

When a teenaged boy wants to walk to a friend’s house in the snow, it doesn’t necessarily mean he’s up to no good.  It could be he needs a little time with himself to re-chart his course. Sometimes it is good to let him be; he’s going to need to get to know who he is on his journey to becoming a great leader.