Before Inspiring Others, Find Who Inspires You

A note to young leaders.

Before you can inspire, you must first be inspired.

When I interview candidates, I often ask: “Who inspires you? Give me two people alive today and two people from history that inspire you.”

Many are often dumbfounded by this question – as though it’s beneath them or somehow puerile to look up to others.

But if you can’t look upward and be inspired, you cannot jump upward and inspire.
Feed yourself biographies of daring, sacrifice and ingenuity. An unlit candle cannot light other candles.