Leadership: for only a select few, or for all?

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up people to collect wood and don't assign them tasks and work, but rather teach them to long for the endless immensity of the sea." -Antoine de Saint-Exupery

Recently I have been reading a lot of books and articles on leadership. It's facinating: typically, creatives don't see themselves as leaders, nor do they think that they might want to be a "leader" one day -- "Manage people? No way! I just want to be creative and design!"

I have been thinking more deeply about the concept of leadership, I am starting to realize that you don't have to have a certain title (like Art Director, Creative Director, or Vice President) to be a leader. That sounds naive, I know, but when you think about that idea, and really take ownership of it, it becomes a very powerful thing: You can be influential in your current position, at your current age, in whatever you are currently working on.

To me, the first part of the Antoine de Saint-Exupery quote (above) is more for the people who are leaders by title -- those who are trying to direct people and products and design work. Those people with the typical "leadership" titles. But the second part of the quote pertains to everyone, me, you, us, in our daily lives, in our daily jobs, in our creative work, in all we do. To "long for the endless immensity of the sea" is to absorb, learn, grow, influence those around us, collaborate, be creative, change, innovate, and influence. To dream up the seemingly impossible idea. To go for it will all of our passion and energy, and to succeed.

If you do this each day, I believe that you are a leader. But then again, I'm not a philosopher or writer or saint, so let me know what you think!