Leadership, on the other hand, is about creating change you believe in.

People are buying only one thing from you: the way the engagement (hiring you, working with you, dating you, using your product or service, learning from you) makes them feel.

Canoeing was hard and scary, and the wind could blow you across the lake if you did it wrong. After a year of not doing it right, I could talk to people and get them to sit up straight, take different kinds of chances, to breathe differently, to engage in the moment in the boat. And I changed them, and I changed me in the process.

Most people don't see that they have options beyond what society tells them to do. That's the biggest problem. They honestly believe that compliance is the shortcut to success.

The first step to getting good is admitting that you aren't (yet).

If you have no wish, how can it possibly come true?

It's far easier to put your future into someone else's hands than it is to slog your way forward, owning the results as you go.