The Reluctant Leader in All of Us

Don't think you have what it takes? You're not alone. But you're stronger than you think.

Cincinnatus Leaves the Plough to Dictate Laws to Rome by Juan Antonio Ribera, 1806

When in the Course of human events it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

You of course recognize that as the first sentence in the Declaration of Independence, one of the founding documents of the United States.

In the early days of forming republics, honor and integrity are necessary to set us on the right path. Society looks for persons of character who aren’t interested in power themselves, calling upon them to serve the greater good.

Consider the legendary leader who retired from public life to work on his farm. He was then granted the leadership of his country twice, but hel…