How do you view "becoming a leader"?

How do you view "becoming a leader"? Your answer to this question can be based on the purposeful leadership model's explanation of it, or just on the idea of "becoming" in general.

I view becoming a leader as something that anyone can do. It is commonly thought that  a leader has to be someone who is "higher up", whether it be in work, school or sports. People believe that they have to have seniority to be a leader but that is not true. Anyone can become a leader if they portray the aspects it takes to be a leader. If a person is motivational, determined, passionate, inspiring, and engaging they can be a leader in work, school or on a team no matter what their position is. Being a leader is not about being older or more experienced than someone else, it is about how well you work with others and how determined you are to get the job done.

I like your take on how to be a leader. I admit I hadn't put much thought into what a leader should be, but I think you captured it perfectly. The only difference between your views and my own are that someone can be a leader outside of an organization - for example, in something like a group of friends or a family. But the traits you described still apply, so our beliefs are still very similar.

It is interesting because I think most people (including myself before learning about the purposeful leadership model) overlook this aspect of leadership and focus on what comes after one is already a leader. How one becomes a leader is especially vital to one's leadership style and their strengths and weaknesses as a leader. The way in which we become leaders has a massive impact on our actual performance as leaders; if someone was pushed into a leadership role instead of pursuing it themselves out of dedication, they will likely be a less effective, successful leader. This is just one example, but in countless other ways as well the process of becoming a leader has a significant impact on one's identity as a leader.