DAILY PROMPT RESPONSE

You’re both. We all are.

The idea that you’re either a leader or a follower — like those are fixed roles — doesn’t hold up in real life. Some moments ask you to step up. Others ask you to support. And knowing which role the moment calls for? That’s the real work.

We put too much weight on titles, as if the label makes the leader. But leadership isn’t a crown — it’s a responsibility. And following? That’s not failure. It’s often the smartest, strongest move in the room.

And then there’s gender — the quiet referee shaping who gets seen as “fit” to lead. A panicked child in the ER? Everyone turns to the woman in the room, like compassion lives in estrogen. A life-or-death rescue? Suddenly it’s “someone get a man in here,” as if courage and risk come with testosterone.

But sometimes, it’s the male nurse who brings the calm — not by raising his voice, but by kneeling down, steady and human.
And sometimes, it’s the female firefighter who leads the call — clear-eyed, no hesitation, already carrying the consequences before anyone else has even moved.

I’ve never considered myself a leader. But I have led.

Not in a flashy, take-charge kind of way — more like noticing what was slipping and quietly stepping in. It was during a group project that had completely stalled. No one was talking. Everyone was waiting for someone else to take charge. So I did. I laid out what we knew, broke the work into parts, and got people moving again. Not because I wanted to lead, but because silence was killing the thing.
When it was over, I faded back. No parade, no title. Just done.

Same goes for everyday work. Maya, a developer with no leadership title, sees her team veering off track. The manager’s underwater. Maya steps up. She rewrites a tangled spec doc, runs a quick sync, and gets people re-centered. No applause, no ego. Just clarity, action, and results. And when the dust settles, she steps back.

That’s leadership. That’s rhythm.

Lead. Follow. Don’t Get in the Way.

Susan Cain calls it quiet strength. Joseph Badaracco sees it in moral action taken when no one’s watching. I see it in people who don’t chase control — they show up, read the room, and do what needs doing.

The real question isn’t “Are you a leader or a follower?”
It’s this:
Can you read the moment — and be honest enough to become what it needs?