Being in business is one thing, but it tends to focus on the owner. After all, it is the owner who takes all the risk. It is the owner who does all the hard work until the business can support itself. It is the owner’s name of the door and the owner who is responsible when it fails. Why shouldn’t the focus be on the owner?

What of others? What are you doing for them? In the world of business, what you do for others, without regard to payment, speaks more loudly about you and your motivations than any sales record your business may break. It shows your integrity. It shows your commitment. It shows who you are.

A pastor once told me that Integrity is what you do when no one is looking. I would expand that to include what you do when no reward is expected. Learning what others need, where their weaknesses are, that is where you should spend time. Leaders are not just born from some factory, they are forged over time, through hardships, through good, through fire. Leaders think of others before themselves. They train. They learn. They listen. And they act, for others. What of you? Are you a leader or are you looking at just yourself?

Change your focus and start becoming the leader YOU need to be. The one YOU need to see. Understand your weaknesses and train your strengths to overcome them. Lead by example. Stop the complaining and the excuses and get growing. If you are not growing, you are dieing. Leaders grow.