Earlier this week on DaveUrsillo.com, I wrote a blog post called How to Spark Change in the World (in 1 Minute or Less) that was inspired by a special message I received here from a man across the world named Solomon.

With his simple email message, Solomon helped spark real inspiration, positive motivation and forward momentum in me far across the Atlantic ocean, here in the States. Solomon wrote:

Dear Dave, My name is Solomon. Am from Lagos, Nigeria, W. Africa. I got connected with your idea of this alternative leadership movement and want to encourage you to move on. Just like you wrote, the World is listening. We just concluded our general election in April 2011 and all you said is real. We must change from the old fashioned traditional system.

But little did I know that Solomon’s message would not be the only one I would receive from a reader in Nigeria this week.

Human Lessons on Power & Politics

Another visitor, this time to DaveUrsillo.com, Allan wrote to me about politics and asked how we can shift the paradigm of old, traditional thinking about leadership to a new way that would inspire honesty and transparency.

Remarkably, these two letters from Nigeria spoke deeply to the concepts we discuss here on LeadWithoutFollowers.com — and truly, they are not exclusive to an “American” or even “Western” school of thought on politics, government, or current events that impact our lives in the U.S. today.

Indeed, two letters from Nigeria revealed to me this week that the problems surrounding politics, leadership and the so-called “air of discontent” is literally gripping people across the globe: spanning every culture, every language, and many varied ways of life.

Why Is Politics So Hard to Change?

Here’s the message I received from Allan:

I have always been inspired by you for a long time,that inspiration has taken me places i didnt know i could get to,however,my country of origin-Kenya is so stuck in old ways,our political thinking has not changed,we keep re-electing the same politicians that lie to us day and night,what is it about politics that is so hard to change? Why is politics so much about about self interest than representation of the people? What kind of paradigm shift do we need to move forward as a country?

Here is my answer to Allan, and I’d invite you to contemplate my answer while pondering what your OWN answers would be:

“Dear Allan,

I believe that politics is so hard to change for a number of reasons — primarily because of the effect that power, social status, money, fame, and followers have on human beings. It is natural for all human beings to become corrupted by these things. What happens in politics is that people (who might have genuinely good intentions to begin with) become attached and addicted to the extra benefits of being a political leader– having lots of supporters cheering for you, being on the television and news, feeling prestigious and special.

Suddenly, these people forget what brought them into these positions of political power: the want to help people, do good and leave their country in a better position for future generations.

Instead, they get selfish and greedy, and want to retain their power, status, followers, money, and so on. So, what happens is that many make the choice to try to hold onto power and gradually become corrupted by greediness and attachment. They forget what it means to be a good leader and help people.

How do we fix this?

Well, at LeadWithoutFollowers.com, I am spreading a message on how every man and woman can become a leader in their lives “without followers” — this means, to be a leader by example in your life, among family and friends and strangers, to be good and compassionate and forgiving and selfless.

This is what it really means to be a leader. By calling yourself a “leader without followers” you do not pay attention to money, social status, or attaining supporters and followers who inflate your ego and pride — the very things that cause many politicians to be corrupted and lose sight of their true leadership.

The paradigm shift starts with each of us, Allan, at the ground level!

We need to encourage people across the world to call themselves “leaders without followers,” to take responsibility for their lives and actions and words, and to gradually encourage our political and elected leaders to do the same. With time, we can influence real, significant change and shift the old ways of thinking about leadership. :) ”

ACTION POINT: What are your thoughts? What causes corruption in politics? Is it human nature, a human problem?

Flickr photo credit: Moises.on

Lead Without Followers inspires men and women to rethink the meaning of leadership and invert a traditional societal paradigm — a widely accepted but rarely questioned cultural meme — on its ear.

We’re striving to redefine what it means to be a leader and squash the notion that the most effective and influential leaders in our world are qualified by their money, power, status, and followers.

Founded by writer and speaker Dave Ursillo, Lead Without Followers a timely and intimate examination of what it means to be a leader: both individually, for ordinary men and women in everyday life; and collectively, as one human species entering in the 21st century.

Inspiring “Everyday” Leaders

The Lead Without Followers philosophy looks to inspire men and women to regain a purer sense of leadership in everyday life, with the bigger goal of helping to elevate our collective psyche and inspire a new generation of leaders to rise to meet the moment.

My philosophy offers a uniquely personal leadership philosophy that is based in compassion for others, selflessness and charitable giving, a determined optimism, and perpetual positivity. In living one’s life as a humble, positive and quiet leader, we subtly influence others to live their own lives based in the same good qualities. In this way, men and women learn to become “leaders without followers” in everyday life.

Through the Lead Without Followers alternative leadership philosophy, anyone can learn how to become a genuine “quiet” leader in any walk of life and further regain a purer sense of what it truly means to be a leader.

On April 3rd 2011, I had the pleasure and honor of speaking to a group of nearly 200 student leaders at my alma matter, the College of the Holy Cross.

The crowd was made up of nearly 200 incoming and outgoing leaders of every on-campus student organization, ranging from intramural sports clubs and arts/dancing groups to student government and the student newspaper — of which I was once co-editor in chief.

A Long-Awaited Opportunity

Speaking this past Sunday morning was my first public speaking appearance in years… literally, years!

The first time I ever gave a public speech in front of a crowd was 8th grade. I gave speeches throughout high school and college, of course, and studied rhetoric and speech writing at Holy Cross and as personal passions.

However, this past weekend was also the very first opportunity that I had to stand before a crowd and share the message behind what I have learned in recent years, amid identity crises, traveling in search of job opportunities, and even quitting my career path amid a massive recession.

That message? How to become a quiet leader and lead without follower — in any walk of life.

Click here to view the embedded video.

It’s important to note that I catered the message of this presentation to be pertinent to what these student leaders were doing both in their organizations on campus and in their everyday lives.

I implored these young leaders to not be dismissive of the current opportunities they have and the positions of genuine leadership they are in.

It’ll Be Different When…

One comment I heard from a faculty member at Holy Cross is a common observation: students often believe that the unwanted, unsavory or ineffective circumstances affecting the impact of their leadership and the perception of their leadership as student leaders to be specific to their situation.

In other words, young leaders often disregard their leadership-specific concerns and complaints by reasoning that they aren’t representative of the big picture, only their class… or campus… or college… or city.

They go on to reassure themselves, “things will be different when I graduate,” or enter the “real world,” or deal with new people. As I’ve witnessed from experienced, many will be shocked to see the seemingly trivial aspects of leadership impacting life on a much greater scale.

What we do individually, within ourselves, can profoundly change the world. And being a leader without followers can have an incredibly positive impact on those around us and everyone we interact with on a daily basis.

So, what kind of a leader are you?

Do you dare become a leader without followers? Defy the status quo? Sow quiet seeds of love and compassion with those you may only encounter but once in your lifetime?

This is the essence of genuine leadership. Devoid of social qualifiers, the perks, the glory, the fame, the jewels… there is only authentic motivation to help others and leave in your wake a humble legacy of goodness.

“The United States was always the last resort and hope for all other nations. There was the hope, whenever something was going wrong, one could count on the United States. Today, we [have] lost that hope.” ~Lech Walesa, February 2010.

An unprecedented percentage of Americans believe that the country is headed in the wrong direction and that America’s best days are in the past.

The sentiments of anger, disappointment and mounting indifference are engulfing the American psyche. In February, the Vice President told the media that “Washington is broken.” 73% of Americans polled agreed.

Just days later, leading New York Times columnist Thomas L. Friedman admitted that it “now it feels as if we are entering a new era,” described by Johns Hopkins University foreign policy expert Michael Mandelbaum as one “where the great task of government and of leadership is going to be about taking things away from people.”

The Gathering Storm

Presidential and Congressional  approval ratings are hovering at historic lows.

Meanwhile, the massive financial crisis that spurred the current global economic recession has cast an even greater shadow of doubt upon America’s elected officials and their collective ability to lead. Worse, this new age of American pessimism comes upon us in such drastic contrast to the fever pitch of economic growth and national confidence that characterized the American 1990s.

But this is neither a Republican nor a Democrat issue. The underlying problem is with our perception of leadership.

Our collectively waning confidence in the United States as a leader of freedom and hope across the world is reflected in our increasing dismay at home: our elected leaders appear to be failing us during a time of great need.

The public’s degenerative psyche threatens to irreversibly damage an already-convoluted perception of what it means to be a leader. And, as the meaning of leadership is even further lost, America’s ever-important place as leader of the free world falls into severe question.

Helping People Reclaim Leadership

In lieu of this gathering storm comes Lead Without Followers (formerly The Quiet Leader), a timely and intimate examination of what it means to be a leader: both individually, for ordinary men and women in everyday life; and collectively, as an American nation entering in the 21st century.

The premise behind the philosophy diagnoses the American people’s mounting anger and growing impatience as a unique sociopolitical byproduct of the last two decades, and explains modern discontent with elected leaders as an aggregate reaction to the presumed plight of modern American leadership and mounting fear America’s best days are in the past.

Lead Without Followers is an alternative leadership philosophy and a uniquely personal mindset based in selflessness, giving and perpetual positivity through which men and women aspire to become “leaders without followers” in everyday life.

The goal of embodying this philosophy is to regain a purer sense of what it means to be a leader.

Too many people are becoming disenfranchised to modern elected leaders, especially amid an array of strenuous political and economic crises. Just take a look at some recent polls and news headlines:

• 25% Say U.S. Heading in Right Direction
• Poll: 4 out of 5 Americans don’t trust Washington
• 29% Say Congress Has Passed Legislation Significantly Improving Life
• 73% of Americans Believe ‘Washington is Broken’

As more and more people become “turned off” to these leaders, what it means to be a leader becomes further convoluted.

Lead Without Followers looks to inspire men and women to regain a purer sense of leadership in everyday life, with the bigger goal of helping collectively elevate our country back to its important status as a global leader.

Restoring Faith in One Another

In order to reclaim the true meaning of leadership — devoid of dependencies on power, money, and status — the philosophy called Lead Without Followers offers men and women a unique and highly personal philosophy on how to “lead without followers” that can be embodied by “ordinary” men and women in everyday life.

By exemplifying principals of thankfulness, selflessness, and positivity, any man or woman can becomes a “quiet leader” whose selfless and optimistic demeanor influences others to emulate the reader’s behavior, consciously or subconsciously.

In doing so, they, in essence, become followers.

In swaying the collective perception that America’s best days are in the past, Lead Without Followers is unique as it not only empowers the increasingly disillusioned public to regain confidence in themselves and the American way of life, but further enables readers to become guiding sources of positivity and happiness in any walk of life.

Creative Commons Flickr Photo Credit: Captain Kimo

In today’s world, everybody is listening.

Whether online or in person, the instantaneous nature of modern communication — on the Internet spanning all forms of social networks and social media — quite literally means that anything one says or does can be heard or seen by anyone and everyone. It can also be remembered forever.

Trust and credibility take lifetimes to establish, and minutes to destroy.

While anyone and everyone can hear and remember what a leader says today, a quiet leader — someone one who is focused and determined to live the message on behalf of a greater cause, who leads without followers, and not only for his or her own personal advancement — must be dedicated to living, breathing and embodying his or her message as if none are following.

As If All Are Listening

On a political level, followers are needed to financially support a leader, spread his or her message, and finally, elect and reelect the leader to office.

We assume that the relationship between leader and follower is necessarily as such: a leader attracts followers and the more worthy and charismatic a leader is, the more followers he or she will attract.

This is mostly true.

But isn’t it ironic that, when suddenly devoid of all the measures that validate and elevate a leader to the highest ranks of influence — the status of a political position, financial support, and most of all, followers — that the leader suddenly loses either the ability or the will to lead?

…But None Are Following

Regardless of whether or not the leader has men and women gathering around in support of what he or she says and does, a quiet leader strives to embody one’s beliefs because he or she is wholly devoted and committed to the cause.

The message is not transparently altered or catered to a particular audience; it is spoken only as the leader believes it should be. The only follower that a true leader needs is one’s self: someone who is dedicated to the message because  they believe that it will help others.

What we can learn from the nature of political leaders who suddenly lose either the ability or the will to be a leader is that a true leader should speak as if the entire world may be listening, but not because anyone is following.

A quiet leader–one who leads without followers–stays committed to the message and the greater task at hand, not for those who are following, but because the leader believes in the message itself.

Flickr photo credit: AMagill

Of the few things I know, I know I was born a leader.

My name is Dave Ursillo. My young life has consisted of little else than a determined search to fulfill an unremitting drive so ingrained in my soul—the innate calling of a leader within.

As desperate and diverse as this search felt throughout most of my young life, it was not until I began to emulate the very characteristics of what I now call the Lead Without Followers alternative leadership philosophy that I began to understand the unique power of a subtle and unconventional form of highly influential leadership.

The Pursuit

I call myself a leader because my young life has been wholly characterized by my pursuit to find the “right fit” of leadership in a career path. Throughout high school and college, I tirelessly sought to fulfill the “inner-calling” of a leader within me — a natural allure — through a variety of different possible career fields.

My earliest leadership experiences began in high school with four consecutive years of elected student government. I was also a four-year, two-sport varsity athlete; ultimately becoming team captain for my high school’s two-time champion lacrosse team. But the most monumental event that shaped my drive to be the best leader that I could be came in the form of an international tragedy: 9/11.

I was 15-years-old when the September 11th terrorist attacks occurred. This world, I reckoned, needed leaders more than ever. And I was determined to become a part of the solution.

Try, Try Again…

In college, I left the path of “representative student government” and instead enrolled as a candidate in the Army Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC) program in Worcester, Massachusetts.

By the end of my freshman year, I had achieved recognition and high honors in Military Leadership 101 and received the Military Order of the World Wars Bronze Award from the Bay State Battalion in 2005. But the military did not ultimately fit my passion for communicating and my unrelenting drive to help others. I thereafter became a writer for the student newspaper at the College of the Holy Cross, The Crusader.

By 2007, I became a sectional editor and later achieved the position of Editor-in-Chief. Meanwhile, interned and worked in a variety of state government offices, experiencing the highest level of leadership first hand and witnessing interesting situations, controversies and more.

As side hobbies, I also built and operated two political blogs in my spare time — SickOfIt.org and SevenStripes.com — which featured dozens of articles and essays that were widely received by a diverse community of online political readers.

Birth of The Quiet Leader

With all of these experiences coming to pass, I still felt without genuine direction.

One night while living in Washington D.C., I found myself battling an odd bought of insomnia. I sat on my apartment balcony and put pen to paper. Then, I had an “awakening” moment about leadership:

…Can one lead, without having others follow?

Since that night, developed an alternative leadership philosophy that teaches anyone how to become a leader in everyday life — “a leader without followers” — free of attachments to political position, social status, or salary.

This revelation caused me to quit my fast-tracked career trajectory in public service and begin to dedicate my life to writing, exploring leadership and the human spirit.

Over two years later, I have learned so much and continue to accelerate my dreams of becoming financially independent through my blog and striving to become a best-selling career author and traveling speaker to share this alternative leadership philosophy with the world.

Lead Without Followers

Indeed, it was not until I began to emulate the characteristics of this alternative leadership philosophy (Lead Without Followers, formerly known as The Quiet Leader) — long before I realized it, or even uttered the phrase — that I began to understand the influence of real, honest leadership.

Now, after deeply and intently fostering the philosophy behind Lead Without Followers for years, I can decisively say that leadership has the unique ability to take subtle form, yet produce highly influential and positive results.

As I have lived it, I know it is a wholesome philosophy that will be widely received by a diverse audience. It is a philosophy that I am intent on sharing with others.

After all, that’s why you’re here. Welcome. I’ve been looking for you.

A major cornerstone of the alternative leadership philosophy dubbed Lead Without Followers is the indisputable revelation that there is severe (and mounting) public discontent in the United States — a so-called “Leadership Problem” throughout much of the developed world.

The public’s discontent appears to be increasing by the year and — contrary to popular notion — is not caused by one particular political party or one political leader.

Truly, growing discontent with America’s elected leaders is subsequently spilling over to cause an overwhelming sense of disenfranchisement to “leadership” in general.

But is the leadership problem real, or merely an overwhelming misconception?

Beyond ‘Democrat’ and ‘Republican’

Usually, one’s perception of whether America is headed in the right or wrong direction is a matter of which political party is in power — Democrats perceive a leadership problem with Republicans in power; for Republicans, the opposite.

Yet in the span of only a few short years, both major American political parties have each controlled both the White House and the Congress. And during this time, nonpartisan opinions of both party’s Presidents, several sessions of Congress and the perceived direction of the United States of America continues to plummet to historic lows.

There is a real and mounting problem with the way we perceive our leaders and the way we perceive leadership in modern America.

First, consider some recent poll numbers that indisputably indicate that an overwhelming majority (pushing 100% of respondents) don’t wish for the children to grow up to be politicians, and don’t believe that campaigning politicians keep their campaign promises when elected:

• Seventeen percent (17%) say they’d like their children to grow up to be politicians.

For one’s child to become a politician used to be a great and respectable honor in the United States. Based upon the results of this poll, to be a politician would seem to reflect as more of a black mark upon one’s family than a great honor. But why do parents feel this way? One indicating factor would be the way we all tend to perceive “politicians.”

When we think of our modern elected leaders, we automatically think things like “liar,” “corrupt,” “selfish,” “egomaniac,” and so on:

• Just 4% believe those seeking office keep most of their campaign promises.

The perception of what most Americans think of politicians is fairly evident, if not by this poll number alone than by general sentiment that can be picked up every day on the news and in newspapers.

But how much of the leadership problem can we blame on leaders that, in a democracy, we Americans are responsible for electing?

Responsibility Lies With Us

The Leadership Problem goes beyond a perceived deficit in modern American leadership. The problem is much deeper: we are electing the very men and women we would choose to not have lead us. Truly, the issues that the American people are suffering from is deeply rooted in our collective psyche that America is on a downward spiral:

• “Fifty-two percent (52%) of voters feel that America’s best days are in the past… This marks the highest level of voter pessimism in two years and is up 13 points from a year ago when Barack Obama was elected president.”

And most expect partisanship and division in the political sphere to only get worse:

• “Fifty-five percent (55%) of U.S. voters expect politics in Washington, D.C. to become more partisan over the next year.”

If a majority of Americans are pessimistic about the country’s future, will overwhelmingly negative sentiment cloud voters’ collective judgment of who the best leaders are to represent us? While the outlook is bleak, a majority of Americans agree that the problem is not America itself:

• “Sixty-seven percent (67%) of voters view U.S. society as generally fair and decent, up seven points from the previous survey in early October.”

The problem is not one of partisanship – general discontent with modern elected leaders is not a reflection upon a particular president, group of politicians, or either political party. The leadership problem goes much deeper than what we see everyday on CNN and in the New York Times. The Leadership Problem is deeply rooted in the American psyche.

The major question is, what has caused it… and how can it be remedied?

In addressing modern discontent with elected leaders and by helping men and women reclaim their understanding of authentic, everyday leadership with an accessible philosophy, Lead Without Followers strives to be the antidote.

Flickr Photo Credit: buksy4free

For a few months, it seemed as if things were getting better…

The seemingly endless bleeding of the American economy for the past two years had appeared to finally begin to slow in the late winter and early spring of 2010.

But a recent CBS poll dispels cautious hope that starting to gather in the hearts and minds of observers of the modern American condition:

Seven in ten Americans are dissatisfied with the way things are going in Washington, including 22 percent who say they are “angry” about the situation. Just 15 percent overall approve of the job being done by Congress. Opinions of both parties, meanwhile, are at or near historic lows: 55 percent of those surveyed hold unfavorable views of Republicans, and 54 percent hold unfavorable views of Democrats.

The Lead Without Followers alternative leadership philosophy (formerly The Quiet Leader) is largely based upon the premise that modern America is and has been encountering a highly unique period of history wherein rapid and mounting

American discontent is not a product of any particular party of political leader, but a nonpartisan product of an overwhelmingly pessimistic and collective mindset. The mindset originates from more and more Americans believing that America’s best days are in the past.

Reality undoubtedly influences perception–in other words, the events and circumstances of our lives dictate our perception of the world and our lives. But perception can also largely influence what reality becomes.

The pessimistic modern American mindset will not influence better days in our collective future if we cannot influence a collective shift in the American psyche that hope still lives, and that we who call ourselves quiet leaders are determined to see it to fruition.

Flickr photo credit: Kevin H.