Leadership: Yours to Discover

Once you are confident you have a manager who is aligned with your strengths you need to find ways to show them your stuff and ask them for coaching and mentoring in those areas.  They need to feel ownership of your success and like they "discovered" you.

Remember the whole John Tory/golf/complain for promotions thing?  This is that mentality he was referencing.

We have a system that encourages people to validate their bosses and make the people at the top of the food chain feel like they are pioneers.  In practice, though, how often is it that the people at the bottom are the ones leading the way forward and empowering the people with access to resources and broad networks?

The truth is, there are some amazingly talented people out there right now either succeeding quietly or nudging towards great things at a painfully slow pace because no one is looking to guide them.  These are the pioneers, treading new ground and building new bridges where they need to but expanding outwards, not racing to the top.

Just imagine what we could accomplish if we had actual leaders at the top as well as at the bottom, connecting in the middle. 

There's no telling how far we could grow.