In last week’s message, I introduced the idea that Intero is a company of leaders. I asked each of you to strive to recognize yourself as a leader. I’m sure some of you responded by thinking, “But, I’m not a leader. I don’t have anyone following me. I don’t manage a company, or an office or even a team. I’m not the leader, it’s just me.” Many of us think this because we are often told, or come to believe that people are born leaders. This may be true in rare instances, but true leadership is not bestowed, it is earned. From whatever position you start from, you can become a leader.

Thomas Watson, the president of IBM from 1914 to 1956 once said, “Nothing so conclusively proves a man’s ability to lead others as what he does from day to day to lead himself.” This is your challenge for as John C. Maxwell, the renowned leadership expert said, “ninety-nine percent of all leadership occurs not from the top but from the middle of an organization.”

In everything you do, start with the principal that you alone are responsible for leading the way to a successful 2010. You may in fact be the only one following but that doesn’t diminish your role as a leader, it amplifies it. You set the tone for your own success. You create your business plan and you follow it. You create your goals and you meet them. You create a vision for your success and you alone decide if you attain it. There is no more vital leadership position, even when you turn your head YOU are the only one following.

At Intero, you are surrounded by excellent leaders from which to draw on for experience, motivation and training, but you alone lead your personal success. And in doing so you join the ranks of leaders at Intero.