By Gregg Thompson and Bruna Martinuzzi

Leadership is at the core of all important human endeavors whether commercial or social, political or humanitarian, scientific or artistic. And it is a role that should not be stepped into lightly. People will count on you. Organizations will put their very existence in your hands. Your efforts will create the products and services that will be the lifeblood of the organization in the marketplace. You will create the jobs, teams and organizations in which people will build their careers. Families will count on the wealth that you help create. Countless lives will be touched by your work. Leadership is that important.

Leadership is also a most challenging endeavor. Today’s organizations are excruciatingly complex, diverse and ever-changing. When we consider the classic goals of leadership such as alignment, engagement, productivity and innovation, we must now do so against a backdrop of shifting technology, pervasive globalization, and previously unfathomable economic change. Never has high quality leadership been more needed and, unfortunately, never has it been in shorter supply.

Am I capable? Can I make a difference? These are the questions we ask ourselves when confronted with the daunting challenge of leadership. The good news is that we are indeed capable and we can make a difference. Humans are naturally wired to lead. We live out our lives on roads shared with others. We are drawn to community, whether corporate, social or family, and we seek a tomorrow that is better than today. Inviting others to join in the pursuit of a better tomorrow is at the heart of the human experience. Unfortunately, many of us only use a very small portion of our leadership capability, choosing instead to covet the lives of those courageous men and women who step to the front of the line with little more than ambition in their eyes, fear in their hearts, and a blurry roadmap in their hands. These are the all-too-rare individuals who have discovered the power to lead.

So what really is the “Power to Lead”? Paradoxically, it is a power that both sets you apart from others and draws you to them. This is not power over others but rather the power to inspire, engage and serve others. This is the power to make a real difference in a team, an organization, a community and even the world.

What is the source of this power? It comes from deep within each of us and is really ours to claim or deny. Becoming a leader is an often arduous inner journey that starts with having the courage and willingness to explore the many facets of our true self.

A good way to understand this process is through the metaphor of the enduring art of oil painting. When we view a great painting, we may be tempted to see it as the product of an orderly process that moves linearly from inspiration through to framing. This is rarely the case. Painting is a much more complex endeavor. To create a masterpiece, the artist needs to prepare the canvas well, assemble oils with just the right pigments, and move the oils about on the canvas until that moment when a complete painting is formed. So it is with leadership.

Just as an artist begins a great painting with a well-primed surface, it is necessary to prepare your own leadership canvas. The artist creates a solid frame, the material is stretched taut, all waste is trimmed and a primer prepares the surface. The bigger and better the canvas is, the greater the potential for a wonderful work of art. Think about your canvas as a unique piece of material woven from those elements that make you unique. What are your most important values and aspirations? How can your passions fuel your leadership? How does your personality lend itself to influencing others? What motivations shape your approach to people and organizations?

Great artists are known to fill their palettes with a wide array of pigments so that they can readily create the perfect color that captures the otherwise indescribable image that is in their minds. What are the contents of your palette? What are your natural strengths and talents? How do your emotions fuel your behavior? What personal traits give you an edge? What choices are within your domain? How do you best relate to and connect with others?

Oil paint remains wet longer than many other types of artists’ materials, enabling the artist to change the color, texture or form of the image at any time. Rarely does the artist leave the paint exactly as first applied. The masterpiece is created by moving the paint already on the canvas, blending it with other colors and changing the texture. Art conservators do not consider an oil painting completely dry for many years. So it is with leadership. Crafting your leadership masterpiece is a dynamic process that will last for your entire career.

Do you want the power to lead? See yourself as a work of art!

This article is excerpted from The Power to Lead: Lessons in Creating Your Unique Masterpiece by Gregg Thompson and Bruna Martinuzzi. Gregg Thompson is the President of Bluepoint Leadership Development and can be reached at greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com. Bruna Martinuzzi is a Senior Facilitator and Consultant for Bluepoint Leadership Development and can be reached at brunamartinuzzi@bluepointleadership.com