Our business has 5 fundamental strategies for success that we call: 'The 5 Pillars Of Success'. These principles are used as a daily 'success checklist' by which we run our business and our lives.

One of those success strategies is 'The Expectation Of Leadership In Yourself And Others'. Think about that statement for a moment. Our whole life, in all of the various roles in which we find ourselves, we expect, and demand, leadership from those around us.

Now I know that there are many different definitions of leadership. Let me define what I mean by leadership. To lead, for me, is to be in service for other people. Leadership means service

Leadership calls for respect, and respect has nothing at all to do with 'like'. It took me a long time to realize that 'respect' does not have to go hand in hand with 'like' and, similarly, 'leadership' has nothing to do with 'telling people how to do something'. Rather, it has everything to do with inspiring people and empowering them to do things for themselves.

To be a leader, we need to first start respecting ourselves. We need to show up every day in our lives and in our businesses and give both of them the level of respect that they deserve. Quite simply, we can not expect respect from others if we don't respect ourselves.

As a child, we naturally assume that our parents will be our leaders. At school, we look to our teachers to be leaders. As adults, every single day, there is an expectation of leadership from one person or another.

We expect our manager to make the right decisions and lead the company to success. We expect the shop assistant to 'be in charge' for us so that we can select and pay for our goods. We expect the bank clerk to explain the state of our finances and to lead us through our financial transactions.

Every day we expect leadership in others. But what of the leadership we expect from ourselves? If we expect those around us to be in leadership for us, shouldn't we shoulder some of the responsibility of leadership too? Shouldn't we expect ourselves to also be a role model?

So, the next time you are standing in line at the bank, or cussing the traffic warden for leaving a ticket on your car, ask yourself this: Do you stand in leadership for yourself and others in every area of your life?

If you fulfilling your duty as a leader, then congratulations, I have no doubts that your life and your business are thriving right now. The reason being that leaders always succeed, as there is always a need for their service.

However, if you're not currently being the leader that you should be, before you point the finger of blame at somebody else, remember that every time we point a finger, three more are pointing back at us. You should make sure that your own life is in order before telling others how to act in theirs.