Leadership is awesome!  I love it!  I love the essence of the role, I love the challenge it brings, and I love the opportunity it provides.  It’s fun and exciting!  The greatest joys of my career have come from being in a leadership position.  

But not everyone realizes that. 

They Don’t Know

I’ve had many conversations with people not in a leadership position who I thought had great leadership potential.  I’ve wanted to encourage them and help them step into a leadership position, but often I’ve been met with resistance. 

It is common for them to scoff at the idea because they don’t think it is “worth it.”  They think it will just be hard and add stress; that it won’t be fun, exciting, and awesome.

When I get this kind of response, I explain all of the awesome things you “get to” do by being leader in the hopes they won’t close the door on a future leadership opportunity.  (I use the phrase “get to” because it’s a privilege to lead your team members, not a burden.) 

Leadership is too important to have potential future leaders choose not to take on such a position of great influence and impact.  I want them to see the awesome opportunity they could have and how it can be awesome for them too. 

Why Leadership is Awesome

There are 2 primary categories and 8 reasons:

You Make A Difference

You make a real, tangible difference.  You get to positively impact your team members and expand your impact radius outside of your direct work.  Your job has a larger purpose and you get to leave a mark on something bigger and more important than yourself – other people. 

Andy Stanley captures it so well when he says:

Those who devote themselves to themselves will ultimately have nothing but themselves to show for themselves. If you devote yourself to more than yourself you'll ultimately have more than yourself to show for yourself -Andy Stanley Share on X

(Watch Andy’s Powered By Purpose talk where he says this and more great stuff. And check out my review of his podcast.) 

You Gain

By leading others, you gain a great deal yourself.

The beauty of leadership is that by serving others, you are blessed. In giving, you receive. In leading, you gain. Share on X

The 8 Awesome Reasons

Here are 5 awesome ways leaders make a difference and the 3 awesome things leaders gain in leadership.

1. Leaders Make A Difference To Work

As a leader, you get to get people excited, engaged, and bought in to their work.  You create meaningful work and fun environments where people want to come to work.  You encourage, motivate, and cheer your team members on.  You support and care for your team members in good times and in hard times.  

2. Leaders Make A Difference To Careers

As a leader, you get to guide, coach, and mentor your team members forward in their careers.  You provide opportunities to help them become what they’ve hoped to become.  You are the catalyst for helping your team members grow in a way they wouldn’t have if not for you.  You see potential in someone when they don’t see it and then help them unlock that potential.  (This is one of my absolute favorites!)

Leadership is awesome because you get to see potential in someone when they don't see it and then help them unlock that potential. Share on X

3. Leaders Make A Difference To Their Team

As a leader, you get to build and lead a group of team members that become something greater than themselves individually…a team.  You create an environment where team members become friends and in many ways a family together.

4. Leaders Make A Difference To Results

As a leader, you get to directly impact the performance and results of your team and team members.  You lead your team to results with your vision, direction, guidance, ideas, and empowerment.  You directly lead your team to successes and wins and exciting results.

5. Leaders Make A Difference To Lives

As a leader, you get to create a great work environment that helps your team members flourish and thrive at work and outside of work.  You send your team members home with pride, excitement, and purpose.  You care for your team members as whole people when they go through good times (e.g. marriages, births, etc.) and bad times (sickness, loss, etc.).  You enable your team members to provide financially for themselves and their families.

As a leader, you get to create a great work environment that helps your team members flourish and thrive at work AND outside of work. Leadership is awesome! Share on X

6. Leaders Gain Growth

As a leader, you grow in more ways than you could have ever imagined and you are better for it.  You are challenged and stretched because things are always changing.  You lead people who are complex and can be messy but you grow in leadership, empathy, and emotional intelligence.

7. Leaders Gain Excitement

As a leader, you get to be part of something bigger than yourself which provides added meaning and purpose to your career and your life.  You expand your experiences by being part of more than just your independent work which allows you to be part of more exciting things.

8. Leaders Gain Joy, Pride, And Love

As a leader, you get to be part of a special relationship between you and your team members, which is a lot like being a parent.  You have special feelings of joy and pride watching your team members accomplish new and exciting things.  You have special feelings of love toward and from your team.

Leadership is awesome! Leaders make a difference to work, careers, teams, results, and lives. And leaders gain growth, excitement, joy, pride, and love. Share on X

Spread The Word, Leadership Is Awesome

When I have elaborated on why leadership is awesome to the potential leaders I mentioned above, I have convinced many.  And the beautiful thing is that many are thriving leaders now who have experienced the awesome aspects of leadership and are spreading the word to other potential leaders.

I googled “Why is leadership awesome?” and I didn’t see a single article describing why leadership is awesome, instead they were largely focused on how to be an awesome leader.  (Here’s to hoping this article makes it into future Google searches!) 

So if you know a potential leader who doesn’t realize how awesome leadership is, spend time letting them know.  Leadership is too important to lose out on a great future leader because they don’t understand the awesome aspects of being leader.

Leadership is important,  

and yes, leadership is hard,

but it’s so worth it, because leadership is awesome!

(If you agree leadership is awesome, click the heart/like button below!)

Photo by Macau Photo Agency on Unsplash