As a leader, the first person you need to lead is you. Once you master this, then you can lead others. Your standards of excellence should be higher for yourself than those you set for others. To remain a credible leader, you must always work first, hardest, and longest on changing yourself. This is neither easy nor natural, but it is essential to ultimately become a person of influence.
The value of understanding how to motivate and influence others is priceless. Leadership isn’t how far we advance ourselves, but how far we advance others. The most valuable gift a leader can give is being a good example.