“The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.” John Buchan

At first reading, my mind raced in several directions. I planned to write my thoughts at random, but then reconsidered.

Think about the depth of this quote.

Leadership if often viewed as influencing and instilling greatness in others.

However, true leadership brings out the greatness already inside, but how?

Here are a few suggestions I like:

Believe people have greatness within. If we do not believe greatness is there, it will be hard to get it out.

Provide support. As inner greatness begins to come out, changes occur. We need to provide the tools necessary to adapt to those changes and reach forward to success.

Allow them to fail. Knowing it is okay to fail does not encourage failure. Rather, our desire is lifted to strive in greater ways to avoid it.

Create a team atmosphere. Working together is where greatness really happens. We need each other to accomplish the task before us.

These are just four suggestions, but when applied, help us truly lead.