“A leader is best when people barely know he exists…when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will all say: We did it ourselves.” Lao-Tzu

One of the things I find interesting in the world that promotes leadership so widely is that true leadership starts within our own lives long before the impact is seen in the world. Being well branded is not the same as being a leader, as branding focuses mainly on marketing strategies to make one appear a certain way to the masses, and the problem with “being well-branded” is that it works, sort of. Where it falls short is that the emphasis is more on curating an image rather than delivering a message, and the message tends to get lost along the way.   

 The benefit of developing personal leadership before public leadership is that it allows us to show up authentically in our day-to-day lives, and the spillover effect is that by our “innate and natural way of being”, we provide leadership simply by our presence. A great example of this are two beautiful friends of mine, Jenn Patch and Peta Kelly, both incredible women who are so in tune with their message to the world that it seeps out of their pores. They are not trying to be slick, filtered or “trying” to do anything other than sharing their message with the world, which they do with ease and passion.

 My goal over the past years has been to invest heavily in my own personal leadership, my own journey and then simply share what has and has not worked for me, and leave the rest up to you. I am not trying to lead others, however, I am definitely trying to inspire those who are still undecided how to move forward in life to simply start moving, the answers show up along the way.

 C. David Gilks Your Fellow Traveler