Be a Leader, Not a follower

Always a Leader, Never a Follower

I have always been a leader, never a follower.

Walking alone and being the first to do something — that’s always been me. Not because I’m trying to be different. It’s just how God made me.

I am not the one that hangs with others talking about things. I’m quietly working on things out of the picture. While the crowd gathers to debate, I’m at the library researching. While people wait for permission. While others need a group to start, I’ve already started.

I come and go because I stay busy. I don’t sit around waiting for someone. I do it.

If I want to achieve something, it may take awhile to find the perfect timing to do it. But I’m still doing it. In my time. On my terms. With God ordering my steps.

I was the teen who traveled to Copenhagen, Denmark for school when others stayed home. One of 5 chosen out of 10,000 for Teen Magazine when most never got the call. I walked on The Tyra Banks Show when I could’ve stayed insecure about my body. I worked at Safeway with a Master’s degree while building a nonprofit in my head. I lived in a shelter with a curfew while writing the book that’s dear to me, one chapter a day.

People call that “behind.” I call it the cocoon stage. Development, not delay.

I don’t follow trends. I don’t need a committee. I don’t need a man to succeed. I don’t need approval to begin. I need God, and I need the work.

I’m an introvert who learned to be an extrovert. I prefer the library to parties and balance over noise. I’m not anti-social — I’m on assignment.

Being first means being alone sometimes. Being a leader means you leave before the crowd catches up. That’s lonely, but it’s also where the miracles happen.

Now at 51, soon to be 52, I’m launching a website. Starting a nonprofit for women. Pursuing a PhD as the first in my family. All things I quietly worked on while others were talking.

Word before world. Water before worry. Action before applause.

I’m not waiting. I’m building.

I’ve always been a leader. And the butterfly doesn’t ask the caterpillars for directions. She just flies.

— Cathryn M. Harris