Every now and then, I see a leader doing something similar to me but doing it exceptionally well. This happened earlier this week.
- The casual yet precise presence.
- The clean and professional design of materials.
- The clear content based on decades of expertise.
- Even the Zoom background was elite.
It can be easy to fall into envy. I can find myself jealous or resentful. I might criticize a small detail to make myself feel better, imagine their hidden failings, or get frustrated that I didn’t think of it first. All of this comes from the smallest, most insecure part of me. It never helps my learning or growth. In fact, it keeps me from it.
Another temptation is imitation. I jot down everything this person did as a mental checklist of what to copy. If I just do everything like them, I think, I’ll be successful too. But this approach confuses mimicry with mastery. I am not this person. I don’t have their story, experience, or essence. Mimicking someone else’s greatness is never truly effective because it lacks the authenticity that even a child can sense.
The third option is inspiration. To see greatness in action is a beautiful thing. What can it awaken in me? What can I learn from it? What can I bring forward in my own authentic way? How can my learning not push me away from my authenticity but help me reveal and amplify it?
Rather than trying to be a second-rate version of someone else’s greatness, I want to learn from them in ways that make me a first-rate version of my own.
Reflection Questions
- Who has impressed or inspired you lately?
- What did you notice in yourself—envy, imitation, or inspiration?
- What can their example reveal about what you value most in your own leadership?
