Quote of the Day: Joel A. Barker on Leadership

Notice Barker chooses the verb “follow” rather than “obey.” Obedience is mechanical; following is relational, a voluntary act that implies trust, judgment, and, crucially, shared risk. That single word turns leadership from command into consent, and it sharpens the point of his line: “A leader is a person you will follow to a place you wouldn't go by yourself.”

The “place” here isn’t just a destination on a map. It’s a conversation you’ve avoided, a responsibility you feel unready for, a strategy that threatens the comfort of the familiar. Most of us don’t need a leader to take us where we already want to go, toward safety, routine, and predictable praise. We need a leader when the next step requires courage we can’t quite access alone.

That’s why titles don’t settle the question of who leads. The measure is movement: can this person get others to cross the threshold from certainty into possibility? Real leadership is the quiet engineering of belief, through integrity, empathy, and competence, so that uncertainty becomes navigable. The best leaders don’t minimize risk; they make it meaningful. They build a narrative sturdy enough to hold a team when the old playbook stops working, and they make followers feel seen rather than used.

That sensibility is native to Joel A. Barker, whose work on paradigm shifts and strategic planning has long asked a hard question: how do people adapt when the future refuses to resemble the past?

No major anniversary needs to justify the point. On an ordinary September Saturday, you can apply it immediately: in your workplace, choose leadership that expands others rather than corrals them; in your own life, practice courage by following the person who helps you become more capable than your fear.