Leaders need more than just balls of steel

It can sometimes be a lonely road being a leader. It requires more than passion, more than balls of steel and more than the desire to succeed.

Sometimes being a leader requires a resolve to do things that seem completely insane. It’s easier said than done.

I watched a profile of Michael Burry on Bloomberg last night – and he said something quite profound about what made him a leader in his industry:

“The way I go about investment is very different and I just like to find my own ideas.”

In that profile someone says this about him: “Michael Burry is disposed to doubt the conventional wisdom – That’s how he finds opportunities.”

It’s worth watching this profile – I can’t go into the detail of it here – but for me the long and short of it is this: Burry wasn’t successful only because he had balls of steel (in a situation that is reported to have given him a bleeding ulcer) – he was successful because of his resolve to stand by what he believed to be absolutely true.

Every day I believe we are given the opportunity to rise to the position of leadership in some area of our lives.

At times this call may be one that has great opportunity to change lives. Even if that change is (for the short-term) only for ourselves. Oftentimes the challenge is this: will we stay steadfast in what we believe (and lead)? Or will we be swayed by and follow the masses?

I have yet to meet a successful person who broke tremendous ground by being a sheep.

Hannah Viviers is a financial journalist and founder of Mommy24

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