I feel completely empty today. I kept staring at the keyboard and the blank page in Microsoft Word, but nothing was coming out.
I found that even some small thing can impact our focus and writing.
I’ve defined a particular outline to help organize my ideas and give some structure to my writing. But today felt like one of those days when writing just wasn’t going to happen.
Still, instead of giving in to the urge to do nothing a decision I know I’d regret later I chose to do some research.
The title is Leadership as a Verb, so I went back to basics.
I started reading about what a verb is, the many interpretations of leadership, human psychology, and what drives us to act collectively. And also remember and put in paper some of my experiences.
I’m always amazed at how, in ancient times, people managed to build such monumental structures. The level of precision involved is astounding.
I imagine the motivation and coordination it took for people to work together to raise such wonders.
Many of these structures are now underwater, hidden beneath forests, destroyed, or buried under newer civilizations. And yet, we continue to rediscover what we accomplished as a collective species.
These readings and searches made me realize something important, yes, we often designate individual leaders, but real progress happens when leadership is shared.
Like in a football/soccer match each player takes on a leadership role in their position.
Together, they may win or lose, but the real value lies in how deeply they understand each other. Were they in “flow”? Did they almost sense what their teammates would do next?
There’s this deeply rooted idea that only a few can be leaders we see it in politics, corporations, and institutions. And yet, the current state of global affairs makes me question that idea more than ever.
With politics seemingly driven by individuals whose actions often show little empathy or even respect for the people they claim to represent, I keep asking: How did we let these kinds of people rise to power?
Whenever dictatorship finds its way into our lives, it is shared leadership collaborative partnership that eventually brings it down. History repeats itself: we unite to achieve a shared goal, time passes, and a few take that goal for themselves. Then we find ourselves fighting again, reclaiming our liberty from the hands of tyrants.
It makes me think: perhaps the real power isn’t in the individual, but in the collective.
Not in the title, but in the verb.
…just got interrupted here…
Apologies, my daughter who’s sitting next to me called for my attention. She was proudly showing me her Minecraft LEGO set, carefully explaining what each character was doing in the scene she had built.
After she walked me through her little world, I asked her, “What do you think leadership is?” She’s nine.
She paused, thought for a moment, and said, “It’s someone who guides others... someone like a politician or someone important.”
I smiled and replied, “You’re a leader too. Every decision you make is an action. When you’re with your friends at the playground and you all decide together what to play, that’s shared leadership. Sure, sometimes one person might try to get their choice picked, and maybe they’ll push really hard to convince everyone.”
Then I asked, “What do you think happens when someone pushes so hard, they start yelling, trying to force everyone to do what they want or else they’ll get upset or say they won’t be friends anymore?”
She looked at me and said, “That’s a very naughty thing to do. I think we’d all feel sad if someone acted like that. Dad, isn’t that what a bully does?”
I pointed at the TV, and I said “someone like that?” and a certain politician was yelling as usual about how great his ideas is and how the tariffs will make a better world… Yes, Dad, she replied.
I told her. “Sometimes kids haven’t learned how to manage their emotions yet, so they use shouting or threats instead. And when that happens, it could be just immaturity. But if it keeps happening if it becomes a pattern you have to raise your alert. You don’t need to fight back. Sometimes it’s best to ask questions and understand why they’re upset. But if that doesn’t work, it’s okay to walk away.”
She nodded quietly, thinking it over. Then she went back to building her LEGO scene modeling a world where everyone gets to play a part, one brick at a time.
This particular moment made me realize leadership is many things a parent, a coach, a president, a mine worker, a DevOps engineer, an activist, a writer, and so much more. It embodies countless aspects, yet somehow, in all the leadership courses and workshops I’ve attended, the human side often gets lost in the noise of frameworks and checklists.
At its core, leadership is about getting along. Yes, processes help us create structure, but rigid rules rarely survive the reality of change. Adaptability, that willingness to bend and flow with the moment that’s what leadership truly demands.
Leadership is just a word, one we load with meaning to capture decisions, journeys, and dreams. It’s multifaceted and, like “productivity,” often feels diluted by apps and buzzwords promising a 10x boost.
Even a sheep pastor is a leader.
Yet, we measure leadership by the status of a role. Is that right or wrong? I honestly don’t know.
What I do know is this, shared leadership feels right. It feels human. It feels like the future.
And now it seems I got something to write about especially for the introduction.
READ NEXT…
Thank you.
Diamantino Almeida
Leadership as a verb. Tech | Writer | People
A good conversation with your young daughter. At its basis, leadership is established by followers - perhaps. Followers are compelled by different motives hopefully positive but history also teaches that on the other extreme they may be motivated by fear.