Here’s what you don’t need to lead.

Get out of your own way to lead. Photo by Josh Calabrese on Unsplash

We are experts at getting in our own way. We love to get in front of ourselves and act as our own obstacles. And we don’t know why this is. It is human nature. We are not conscious of this. It is like we have horse blinders on, shielding ourselves from us. We deicide that we cannot lead. We decide that we cannot take the team to a higher level. We decide that we have no vision for where we want to go.

We’re scared — terrified, actually. We do not want to be found out for the frauds we are. It’s ironic: we want to be seen and we want to hide, too. But as Seth Godin reminds us, we’re all fraudulent. We’re all deficient. Everyone feels inadequate.

Whew. What a relief that is.

With that out of the way, we can get on with being better for others with what we’ve got. It turns out that we are enough.

You don’t need any of these to lead.

You don’t need a title. You don’t need any more money. You don’t need any more team. You don’t need any more education. You don’t need to wait for someone to bless you or anoint you. You don’t need another credential. You don’t need to any more tech. You don’t need any more apps. You don’t need to upgrade your phone. You don’t need to wait until February to start. You don’t need to wait until the timing is right. You don’t need to apologize for yourself and your ambition. You don’t need to stay in your own way. You don’t need your parents’ approval. You don’t need big brother’s approval. You don’t need the boss’s approval. You don’t need an audience of 2,000 to begin. You don’t need fame. You don’t need prestige. You don’t need power to start leading.

There is no better time than right now. Begin. Lead. Go. You have everything you need to lead — right here, right now. Go.

Decide that you’ll go and do it. Decide that you’ll get after it. Demand it of yourself. You need nothing else to lead. The aforementioned is just a short list of excuses you tell yourself you need before you’re ready to lead. Yet you don’t need anything. You’ve got the goods where you are. Right here, right now.

You just need to start right now. Decide. And Go.