Leadership Isn’t a Shortcut—It’s a Journey Through the Mud
John Maxwell once said, “A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.” But I’ve learned that real leadership often starts with not knowing the way at all. At 13, I was appointed patrol leader in my Boy Scout troop. My first mission: guide three younger scouts on a 5-mile hike. It was a blazing August day in the hills near Cleveland, Tennessee. Eager to impress and shave off a few miles, I proposed a shortcut. “If we cut through this field,” I told them, “we’ll get back quicker—and no one has to know.” They trusted me. They followed. What should’ve been a 5-mile loop turned into an 8-mile odyssey through fields, hills, and finally, a manure-covered pasture. We pushed forward—ankle-deep in filth—until one scout lost his shoe. I went back to help. He found it, knocked me over in celebration, and I came up covered from head to toe in the worst kind of lesson. When we finally made it back to camp, our scoutmaster was furious, the other scouts were exhausted, an...
