The Burning Question

"Managers light a fire under people; leaders light a fire in people."

-Kathy Austin

You’re probably expecting me to ask whether you think you are a manager or a leader, right?

Wrong! My question to you is this:

Do you have the fire in the first place?

If you don’t, it doesn’t matter whether you see yourself as a manager or a leader because you won’t be lighting anything…from under or within.

Why?

Simple. You can’t give away what you don’t have.

Without the fire, you are neither manager nor leader….

Take a minute right now and ask yourself 3 questions:

1.) Am I excited to get up in the morning and face my workday?

2.) Am I proud to tell people what I do?

3.) Am I fulfilled by my career?

If you don’t like your responses…ask yourself a final question:

4.) Did I ever like my answers to the first three questions?

If your answer is yes…consider the wisdom of Ayala Pines:

“In order to burn out, a person needs to have been on fire at one point.”

Give yourself permission to go take a walk today and ask yourself the hard questions you’ve been avoiding.

Like stoking any fire back to life, the best place to start is to give it air and  poke at it!

Where can you stoke your fire today?