Leadership is perhaps one of the most misunderstood subjects in business. Leadership has nothing to do with rank. I know many people who sit at the highest levels of an organization who are not leaders. We do as they tell us because they have authority over us, but we do not trust them, and we do not follow them. I also know people at low levels of organizations that have no formal authority, but they’ve made a choice: the choice to look after the person to the left of them, the choice to look after the person to the right of them, and we would trust them and follow them anywhere.

Leadership is the awesome responsibility to see those around us rise; you – every one of us – can choose to be the leader we wish we had. We lead our teams, and we can lead our clients when we decide that we will do everything in our power to see them rise, to see them achieve their ambitions and their dreams. And this is what servant leadership means: I serve your dream, rather than you serve my bottom line. And it’s totally fine to have financial goals, it’s totally fine to have metrics, because that becomes the proof of value that somebody wants to give you their money because they believe in you. It is proof positive.

But the best leaders I know … are students of leadership. There’s no such thing as an expert leader. It doesn’t exist. Like there’s no such thing as an expert parent, it doesn’t exist. Right? We are students of leadership, and even the most senior leaders constantly are reading books, reading articles, watching talks, having conversations all the time about leadership. They’re always in learning mode. And I think for anyone who wants to be a leader, you have to choose to be a student of the subject. Like anything – if you want to be good at something, you have to study it.

And the most… ignored characteristic of leadership … you know, we talk about vision and charisma … yes, these are important, but I’ve known some wonderful leaders who don’t have huge world-changing vision. I’ve known some wonderful leaders that are quiet and sit in the corner, but they all have courage: the courage to advance a vision, the courage to ignore the short-term ups and downs of the business, the courage to take risks on people, the courage to believe in people, the courage to speak truth to power, the courage to do the right thing and have integrity. I think courage is a very undervalued characteristic of leadership.

• Misunderstood (adverb): having qualities that people do not see or completely understand.
• (Nothing) to do with (phrase): (not) connected with.
• A rank (noun): a position in an organisation, showing the importance of the person.
• Authority (noun): the right or ability to control something or someone.
• To follow someone (verb): to act or do as ordered by someone else.
• Formal (adjective): official or public.
• Awesome (adjective): causing feelings of respect, admiration, or fear.
• To rise (verb): to increase or become more important, successful, or powerful.
• To do everything in your power (phrase): to do everything possible.
• An ambition (noun): something you want to achieve in your life.
• A servant (noun): someone who works for or serves someone else.
• Rather than (phrase): instead of.
• A bottom line (noun): the total profit or loss that a company has made.
• A goal (noun): an aim or objective.
• A metric (noun): a system for measuring something.
• Proof (noun): a fact or piece of information that shows something is true or real.
• Proof positive (noun): facts that cannot be doubted.
• There’s no such thing as (idiom): used to say that something doesn’t exist.
• Constantly (adverb): all the time or very often.
• An article (noun): a piece of writing about a particular subject in a newspaper, magazine, or on the internet.
• A mode (noun): a way of behaving, living, or working.
• To ignore (verb): to not listen or give attention to something on purpose.
• A characteristic (noun): a quality or part of something.
• Vision (noun): the ability to imagine how something could be in the future.
• Charisma (noun): a powerful quality that some people have which attracts attention.
• Courage (noun): to be brave and have confidence to do what you believe is right.
• To advance (verb): to develop, improve, or move something forward.
• Ups and downs (noun): the good and bad things that happen.
• To speak truth to power (phrase): to say what is right, even when talking to senior person or manager.
• Integrity (noun): the quality of being honest and doing what is morally right.
• Undervalued (adjective): thought to be less valued or important than it really is.

In this text, there is an example of wish/ if only to talk about things we’d like to change. We use wish or if only to talk about things we would like to be different in the present or the past. If only is normally a bit stronger than wish.

In the present: we can use wish/ if only + past form to talk about a present situation we’d like to be different: ‘I wish I had more time!’   ‘If only I didn’t live so far away.’   ‘She wishes she could do what you do.’

In the past: we can use wish/ if only + past perfect form to talk about a regret or something we’d like to change about the past: ‘If only I’d studied more!’   ‘I wish I hadn’t said that to her.’   ‘I bet he wishes he hadn’t accepted the job.’  

Expressing annoyance: we can use wish + wouldn’t to show that we are annoyed about something or with what someone does/ doesn’t do: ‘I wish it wouldn’t rain so much!’   ‘I wish you wouldn’t do that.’   ‘He wishes the noise would stop.’

Examples in the text:

• … you – every one of us – can choose to be the leader we wish we had: wish + had (past simple). ‘Wish’ is used here to talk about a current situation that we would like to change.

https://learnenglish.britishcouncil.org/grammar/b1-b2-grammar/wishes-wish-if-only

https://www.englishpodcastscollected.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Simon-Sinek-What-makes-a-leader-great.pdf

https://www.englishpodcastscollected.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Simon-Sinek-What-makes-a-leader-great.docx