Pro Memoria — Essential Points of Leadership

Maybe it’s the algorithm influencing all my feeds or the broader zeitgeist in general, but I have noticed very few people are talking about leadership — influencers aplenty talking about other things but little about leaders or leadership. Is “influencership” even a word? There may be communities talking about leadership but I’m not getting the newsletter or seeing the blogs. I thought I would offer some thoughts on the essential points of leadership as a flare to catch someone’s attention and get some invitations.

I wanted to mention I wasn’t trying to be pretentious when I titled this blog Pro Memoria — Essential Points of Leadership. I could have easily called it “crib notes” or “a cheat sheet” but leadership is so important that I wanted something that stood out and offered weight (much like the topic). Pro Memoria is derived from Latin and literally means “for memory” and in modern terms means “A memory aid; a reminder or memorandum” — with that said, here are the essential Points for Leadership to get the conversation started.

1) Leadership is as much a philosophy as it is a journey, and it’s about perpetual learning — a case in point, great leaders are always reading about leadership and other things to improve. I suppose that is why Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is considered in the top must reads for anyone interested in leadership. This is not the only step on the journey but one of many.

2) Will you be a Selfish leader or a Selfless leader? If you raise your hand and say you want to be a leader you have to pick a camp. I am not here to tell you which type of leader to be… but there is a saying that goes something like this, “If you want to go fast, go alone; if you want to go far, go together”. My experience is Selfless leaders go far.

3) Leaders are not defined by a title. Everyone and anyone can be a leader — ask all those people that spend their day with lots of responsibility and no authority. A leader by definition is someone who acts like a leader — beautifully circular.

4) Leaders have a vision. And right after that they have goals, objectives and expectations. This becomes even more important the larger the team you are working with gets — effective execution on a vision comes with alignment and everyone involved.

5) Ownership, the ability to make decisions and communication transparency are crucial traits for a successful leader. A leader owns what they do and takes responsibility, makes decisions to help the vision and team progress and is always communicating as honestly as possible to make sure everyone understands, and is clear with what is happening.

6) Leaders encourage others to shine and foster personal and professional growth. An abridged quote by Marianne Williamson reflects what great leaders do:

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous,
talented and fabulous?

Your playing small does not serve the world.
There’s nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other
people won’t feel insecure around you.

It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine,
we unconsciously give other people
permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear,
Our presence automatically liberates others.”

7) Leaders create an environment to drive action. I remember listening to a CEO I very much admire — someone was making a pitch for a big idea and his only response was, “Do it”.

8) True leadership skills are forged when it is difficult — it is easy to be a good leader when times are good. You can’t control when your world decides to get hard but you can decide to take on difficult things to practice for when it becomes real.

As I look at my notes, it seems I have landed on 8 points for my Pro Memoria. I appreciate that each of these points are large topics in their own right and there are probably other points that could be added — but remember, this was just intended to be a cheat sheet.

Hopefully it starts up a conversation about Leaders — we can’t let the Influencers win.

iamgpe

10 more

Moments — Love in my heart

I have five days to bench press 200 pounds; it was a goal I set myself back in January when I noticed I could lift 170 pounds with little difficulty — shortly after, while playing outdoor shinny, I fell and jammed my shoulder… which then took six months to recover to a point that my goal seemed achievable again.

As I started to progress and feel the momentum building, I aggravated my other shoulder and tricep. That took six weeks to work through this injury, and as I looked at the calendar, my runway was getting short — and yes, it does scream “metaphor for life” but that’s for another time.

Today I wanted to see how my shoulders were holding up and how close I was to my target — I felt good and slowly progressed as I incrementally added weight to the bar. There comes a point, particularly when you are reaching your limit, when you need a spotter. A spotter is someone who watches over your lift to ensure you don’t crush yourself. In this case, I asked someone I didn’t know to watch and keep my ego from causing undue harm. He was more than happy to help and offered encouragement as I started my lift. I lifted 190 pounds with some help and made a new gym friend. I told him about my target and what I was trying to accomplish, and as he went back to his workout he said, “It’s good to have goals”.

My shoulders felt good and I was optimistic — just 10 more pounds… just 5% more. I only have five days left and as I said before, I’m working with a short runway — very short if truth be told. I will keep it up until the end and we will see.

As I started a light exercise, I caught the eye of another gym dude who smiled, dropped one side of his headphones, came over to bump fists, and said, “Hey”. In our conversation, I asked him if he was ready for 2026 and he looked at me strangely and said that, He only worries about the day he’s in and maybe the day after. “ He then put his hand to his chest and continued, “I live with love in my heart”.

He smiled, bumped my fist again, then went off to continue his workout.

So, with five days left in 2025, today I was reminded that perseverance brings progress, that the world is full of people willing to help and offer encouragement as you make your way, and love is a great energy to carry with you — whatever you happen to be doing.

iamgpe

*14 more

Fuck you; I am...

I have noticed that when I am dealing with something or trying to make sense of a situation, I go hiking in the forest — I am attracted to nature and something much bigger than myself. This morning the air was fresh and the icy trail forced you to pay attention with every step. As I made my way, I ruminated — I was frustrated, and the more I reflected, the darker my mood got. Under my breath I mumbled, “Fuck you; I am…”. The murmur trailed off as I came to a stop. I stood in the forest on the first day of winter and I was different. My mood had changed: what seemed insurmountable was not anymore, the problems, although not gone, were straightforward to overcome. The person who walked out of the forest was someone totally different than the one who had entered an hour earlier.

But why? Metaphorically speaking, how was a cold, wet blanket that was suffocating me so easily removed? I had the rest of the hike to think about it.

Many will find the term fuck you vulgar, but everyone would agree that it is direct and forceful and pressures you to take notice. This sets the stage for the “You” in the term fuck you and needs to be dissected a bit — this could be directed to a specific person but, and this is important, it can also be directed to a situation or circumstance. More important still, it could be directed to yourself, and with honesty on the table, we all know we get in our own way more often than not… so get comfortable directing this to yourself.

Now to the second part of what I am starting to think is simply a forceful affirmation — “I am”. This really is the reason, or reasons you said, “Fuck you” in the first place.

• I am… skilled and competent.

• I am… strong and resilient.

• I am… honest and trustworthy.

• I am… adaptable and courageous.

• I am… smart!

• et cetera

I think you get my point.

On that cold sunny day, it simply changed the narrative and perspective which forced me to reflect on who I was and how I can overcome the situation. It’s important to remember it must always be “I am…” and never “You are…” because this is about you changing the narrative and owning the situation. You’re not blaming the circumstance on someone or something else, you are saying why you can overcome anything in front of you — I believe this only works if you simply say “I am”… and know it to be true and own it.

So there you have it, a reminder to myself as well as a catchy new affirmation mantra.

Also, if you happen to adopt this, you should keep it as a mind exercise or write it in a journal — running around saying Fuck you is just going to cause a kerfuffle.

iamgpe

*just 15 more blogs.