Paddling Against the Wind: Leadership Isn’t a Title, It’s Everywhere
- linnearader
- Apr 30
- 9 min read
Have you ever noticed how some people command respect and inspire action regardless of their position, while others with impressive titles struggle to inspire anyone to do anything? The truth is unmistakable: leadership has never been about the badge you wear or the office you occupy.
True leadership emerges in unexpected moments—when challenges arise, when decisions must be made, and when others look for guidance. It shows up on the street just as often as the boardroom, in family crises just as clearly as executive meetings.
In this post, I'll share a surprising riverside story that perfectly illustrates leadership in action, explore three powerful definitions that capture leadership's essence, and provide practical ways you can develop your leadership capacity starting today—regardless of your title or position. Because the world doesn't just need more managers and supervisors; it needs people like you who understand that leadership is a choice you make every single day.
Are you ready to discover the leader you already are?
The River's Challenge: A Leadership Parable
Picture this, you’re on a kayaking trip with about 20 people. You launched from a boat ramp on the St. Joseph River on a beautiful summer day. It’s warm, sunny and the river is flowing. It’s truly a peaceful and amazing Sunday. You’re all ready for a beautiful day paddle down river.
About halfway down the river the wind picks up. At first the wind just helps cool everyone off. A little later, the river opens up and the river that was once flowing in the direction of our paddle has suddenly started moving in the opposite direction, pushing all of us backwards. Strong paddlers kept moving forward at a labored pace. Medium strength paddlers were almost stationary, they paddled and paddled but went nowhere. The weakest? They were going in the wrong direction.
You can’t turn around and go back to the landing. You’re too far and the river flows against you once you get around the last bend in the river you paddled past. In the group you have strong paddlers who can continue and make progress. Medium paddlers can struggle along, slowly gaining each inch. But our weakest paddlers were going backwards. Pushed up against the banks trying to hold ground, exhausted, frustrated, and ready to quit.
The fun was gone. The laughter, chatter, and enjoyment of spending the time with friends and family turned to careful words of encouragement, murmurs of “I can’t do this,” and a few tears.
Suddenly a few of our strongest figured out how to hook two kayaks together. A few others decided that misery wasn’t getting anyone anywhere and started calming down the frustrated by helping with words of encouragement. Very slowly the group started moving forward. Two by two and one by one, paddle by paddle, progress was made.
After what seemed like hours, the river narrowed and started to turn. Tree cover increased. The wind couldn’t get through to change the flow of the river. The relief that followed was epic.
The leaders in this story are plentiful.
The strongest paddlers who figured out how to hook kayaks together and not only paddle themselves but also an extra kayak and person.
Those that figured out how to encourage others that were struggling.
Paddlers that wouldn’t let themselves quit.
Looking back, I can see that our fun and simple kayaking trip ended up showcasing leadership in its most pure form. The strongest paddlers didn't simply power ahead and wait at the finish, they innovated solutions, connecting kayaks to help others. Those who offered encouragement didn't hold official positions as team leaders or motivational coaches, they simply saw a need and filled it. And those who refused to quit showed that personal resilience itself is a form of leadership that inspires others.
This river trip shows us that leadership emerges naturally when challenges arise, and it rarely comes from a designated title or position. It comes from character, skill, and the willingness to act when action is needed. This is the essence of true leadership, responding to the current situation with whatever unique strengths you possess, regardless of your formal authority or role.
Now, think about your workplace. In every workplace you have employees who are strong and able to work through any challenge. You have employees who pull their own weight and get the job done. And, you have employees who struggle. They do well with most tasks, but when tasks change or things don’t go according to plan, they need help.
When your team runs upon challenges, who comes through as a leader? Is it you?
Defining True Leadership
How do you define leadership?
The dictionary says lead means “the initiative in an action; an example for others to follow.”
Dwight D Eisenhower explains leadership well. "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it."
Google then defines a strong leader as “Someone who effectively motivates and inspires a team to achieve goals, demonstrating the ability to influence, challenge, and build positive relationships.”
These definitions reveal something important: nowhere do they mention positions, titles, or organizational authority. The dictionary speaks of initiative and example, Eisenhower of internal motivation, and Google of influence and relationships. True leadership, then, exists in actions and impact rather than job descriptions or organizational charts. It's available to anyone willing to take initiative, inspire others, and build meaningful connections.
The Foundation of Leadership: Traits, Skills, and Behaviors
For you to be a good leader you need some foundational traits, skills, and behaviors such as:
Character Traits of Effective Leaders
Integrity: Consistently demonstrating honesty and strong moral principles
Empathy: Genuinely understanding others and caring about their perspectives and feelings
Accountability: Taking responsibility for both successes and failures
Resilience: Persisting through challenges and adapting to setbacks
Humility: Recognizing your limitations and being open to learning from others. Answering questions, you don’t know the answer to with “I don’t know YET” or “Let me find out” rather than making up an answer or making assumptions to get by.
Courage: Willing to make difficult decisions and take calculated risks
Essential Leadership Skills
Effective Communication: Articulating ideas clearly and actively listening.
Emotional Intelligence: Understanding your own emotions and managing them effectively as well as those of others.
Vision Setting: Creating compelling pictures of possible futures that inspire action for yourself, your family, and your team.
Decision Making: Analyzing information and making timely, thoughtful choices.
Relationship Building: Fostering genuine connections built on trust and respect.
Conflict Resolution: Addressing disagreements constructively.
Leadership Behaviors That Make a Difference
Leading by Example: Demonstrating the behaviors you wish to see in others.
Empowering Others: Delegating authority and supporting growth opportunities.
Providing Constructive Feedback: Offering specific, actionable guidance your team can learn and grow from.
Celebrating Success: Recognizing achievements and expressing appreciation for jobs well done and initiatives taken successfully
Continuous Learning: Actively seeking new knowledge and perspectives.
Adaptability: Adjusting approaches as circumstances change
These traits, skills and behaviors form the foundation of leadership. By developing them, anyone can exercise leadership influence within their personal and professional lives, demonstrating that leadership truly is about who you are and what you do rather than what title you hold.
Leadership in Everyday Situations
How can you grow and develop into a more successful leader? Start small. The next time you encounter an opportunity to lead, contemplate what one of these traits, skills or behaviors could help make the situation better or more meaningful. Let’s brainstorm a few to try it out.
Leading Through Workplace Uncertainty
You’re at work and a personnel decision is made that you don’t understand. Your co-workers are loudly criticizing the decision and deep down you know there isn’t anything the management team can legally explain in these types of situations. You’re frustrated by it too and would love the reasons the decision was made, but you also can appreciate that if you were that employee, you would be happy management wasn’t discussing your issue with everyone else.
How can you lead in this situation?
Empathy. Genuinely show appreciation for the thoughts and feelings of all involved. Don’t ignore feelings you don’t agree with. Explaining that you understand you wouldn’t want your situations aired to everyone may help others show similar empathy.
Humility. Demonstrate humility through explaining that you’re certain there’s more than one side of the story and that there’s information you all may not know.
Lead by Example. Don’t get stuck in the loud criticizing pattern. Move beyond the situation and act in a professional manner.
Guiding the Know-It-All
Another example. Have you ever had a child that knows everything (or at least claims to)? You’ve lived life and understand things they don’t, but in their mind you’re just above the level of incompetent. One day they are going on and on about the injustices of life in the working world and how ridiculous rules can be. As an adult who has lived in the work-world for many years, you understand where rules come from and why.
How can you lead in this situation?
Resilience. You’ve made it to the point your child is a young adult and working…that resilience needs to be celebrated at least for a minute!
Emotional Intelligence. When your child begins going on about their perception of injustices, evaluate your emotional intelligence in the situation. Can you read your emotions and understand how you may be feeling about their statements? Can you control how your reaction may impact the conversation? This is often the first step to get to any other demonstration of other skills.
Empowering Others. Empower your child to think of different perspectives or ask questions. Explaining why yourself will likely not help in this specific example. BUT providing the “permission” to think differently and not judge may assist.
Lead by Example. Long game for the situation, not focusing on negative, but asking questions, digging deeper to determine root causes of situations, and showing humility, when necessary, will be the best approach. For a child that knows everything, correcting them will be ineffective. Big picture however, if you can lead by example, and can demonstrate an open and inquiring mindset, the greatest opportunity for success exists.
Setting Standards When Others Take Shortcuts
Final example, you’re working on a project with three other co-workers. One of the co-workers is taking every short cut imaginable to get the job done, resulting in work that you aren’t proud of.
How can you lead in this situation?
Empathy. Recognize that your co-worker may not be having the best day. Try to demonstrate understanding and empathy while encouraging people to do a good job.
Conflict Resolution. When team members don’t work together to meet a goal, conflict can arise. Ask questions to understand why or how they are completing the job differently than you to gain their perspective. Maybe what you see as a short cut is the only way they know how to complete the task. Having that conversation and understanding everyone has different perspectives may result in a learning experience for everyone.
Lead by Example. Complete the project as fully and completely as possible. By demonstrating doing your best, your co-worker may just get on board and realize putting in the hard work is more beneficial.
Becoming the Leader, You Can Be
Leadership isn't something you perfect overnight, it's a journey of continuous growth and intentional practice. But that journey begins with a single step.
This week, I challenge you to:
Choose one leadership trait from this post that resonated most with you. Perhaps it's empathy, conflict resolution, or leading by example. Write it down and put it somewhere you'll see it daily. (If you haven’t read the blog post titled “From Drowning to Thriving: How 7 Simple Reminders Changed My Leadership Journey” yet you really should!)
Create a micro-practice for this trait. Something small and specific you can do each day. If you chose effective communication, maybe commit to asking one clarifying question in every conversation before responding.
Document your leadership moments. At the end of each day, take two minutes to jot down one situation where you consciously practiced leadership. No matter how small it seemed, write it down and celebrate that growth.
Share your leadership journey in the comments below. Which trait are you developing? What's working? Where are you struggling? Your experience might be exactly what another reader needs to hear.
Remember, the people around you, your colleagues, friends, family, and community—are waiting for someone to step up and lead with purpose. They're waiting for you.
Will you rise to the challenge?
Leadership isn't about having all the answers, it's about having the courage to take the first paddle stroke, especially when the winds are against you.
Your leadership journey starts now.
Connect With Me
If you want to consult on training or coaching for your team, please reach out.
269-621-5282
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