I usually try to avoid writing such long posts, but just stay with me for a sec. Sometimes it’s funny how things converge and come to you all at once from many directions. As you may already know, I am listening to Seth Godin’s Tribes: We Need You to Lead Us, which recently had me thinking about leadership. Today, I went back and listened to a previous section again in which Seth discusses the difficulty of taking initiative because being original and sharing original thoughts, and introducing original services or products means opening yourself up to failure and criticism. He said “People fail to be remarkable because they fear criticism”, and that it takes being a fearless heretic to make any worthwhile concept come to life.

The words fearless heretic made me think of my dad. That might sound funny at first, but hear me out. Here is a guy who grew up Catholic and decided a year ago to buy a Kosher / Vegetarian restaurant called King Solomon’s Pizza on the Camelback Corridor here in Phoenix. First and foremost, he knew the business was a good business. Second, he has a background as an Executive Chef, dating back to the old glamour of ’70’s Palm Beach. He has established and managed restaurants, and brought many back to life- he knows restaurants and knew that this little place would be just his speed, that he could leave his mark and make it even better. He loves preparing specialty foods with amazing ingredients, connecting with people through good food, and loves the community he has the privilege to serve.

Was it always this enjoyable? Of course not! The Kosher-keeping community in the Valley was not at all sure that this gentile would be willing or able to carry on the tradition of providing Kosher and Vegetarian food. It was something of an initiation, but he was a fearless heretic. He stuck with it, and not only did he prove himself, another local Kosher restaurant is following his every move. Each time my dear old dad adds a new tasty and popular item to his menu, this local competitor adds it to theirs. I made the comment once that this must really freaking piss him off. He just said casually ”Nah. No one can do what I do, not how I do it”. That’s a fearless heretic for you.

Recently, I was contacted by someone I used to work for who hasn’t been in touch for some time, asking how business is going. I was honest- business is really good. It seemed pleasant enough. Then I got an email asking me for more information and advice, bordering on asking me to give up IP (not that this was her intention. I just had to be mindful not to give too much). This was hard for me- I used to work with this person and I really like her. It is in my nature to want to be helpful.

But, after I thought about it, I started to feel really threatened. I’d moved out on my own, worked very, very hard on developing my original thoughts, created and executed original plans and invested countless hours in meetings, networking, reading, and learning. And now, she expects me to give away what I know, and I see her staff creating profiles on the Social Media sites I use, creeping into my territory?? This situation really chapped my ass (I love that saying)! Around this time, I also read this great post by Mark Dudlik, a Twitter buddy, about the difference between stealing and imitating in the design world. Towards the end, he says that he isn’t calling people who are inspired by icons thieves, “….this isn’t including the groundbreakers, the trend setters, the people that others look towards and who influence the rest of us.” We have to have people like the Seth Godins and Chris Brogans of the world to keep challenging and inspiring us and moving us in a new direction. I then tried really, really hard to take my situation as an example of 1) my miniscule success at appearing as a groundbreaker in my industry to someone I know, and 2) someone with an absence of initiative flattering me by asking for my expertise.

Ok, ok, I told myself. Calm down, it’s a free country, and for us at least, it’s a free Internet. We cannot stop others from becoming our potential competitors. But we can remain fearless heretics. We can continue to take the initiative on learning, collaborating, creating, synthesizing and putting our own original thoughts, services and products out there- this may mean that we will be met with criticism or failure, but we took that initiative, and that means that you stay one step ahead of people waiting to see what your next move will be. This is an inherent part of being a leader.

So, now I just think to myself, “am I really threatened by this situation? Nah. No one can do what I do, not how I do it”.