Leadership Lives...

Physicists searched for the elusive particle that holds the universe together to give everything mass since 1964 when Francois Englert and Peter Higgs theorized its existence. In 2012 their theory was proven true. They discovered this particle at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research, using the world’s most powerful particle accelerator called the Large Hadron Collider near Geneva, Switzerland. They called this particle and its field, the Higgs Boson. Its nickname and what most people know it as, is the “God Particle,” because it fills the infinite space between all objects in the universe and is responsible for giving objects mass. Without the “God Particle,” or if it were to become unstable, what we know and what we see in the universe would break apart and implode. What does the “God Particle” have to do with leadership? Business scholars and leaders have searched and are still searching for the elusive material that holds business and people together – a silver bullet if you will. There are infinite potentialities in every given situation with every given person, scenario and environment. Leadership Lives… in the Infinite Space between Management and Skill Set, just like the “God Particle” fills the infinite space between all objects in the universe. Like the “God Particle,” when leadership is unstable and disappears, implosions occur. Scientists theorize that the “God Particle” will remain stable for millions of years, so we have nothing to worry about there, but leadership has proven to be fickle. It comes and goes in an instant without notice. It can be fleeting. Leadership is arguably even more elusive than the “God Particle.” Is leadership even a real thing? The answer is, “Yes,” but, how do we prove it? We can’t touch it, see it, taste it, or hear it. We only feel it. This is the significant difference between what the “God Particle is and what the idea of Leadership is. The “God Particle” can be observed with our senses while leadership is felt by those around us. The “God Particle” is present all the time, but only detectible for micro moments in time. The good news is we can develop leadership much more cheaply than the 13.25 billion dollars it cost to develop the Large Hadron Collider to locate the “God Particle.” Leadership is in all of us, and it’s free. When you boil it down to its essence, Leadership is a feeling we give other people. It is not an outcome. We all have the ability to harvest the leadership within us and share it with the world. We simply have to focus, and develop the skills to identify the infinite opportunities for leadership that manifest from moment to moment and fill that space with practical leadership principles. The “God Particle” unlike leadership is an actual particle, whereas leadership is an intangible, abstract feeling. Just like the “God Particle” fills the space between objects and holds the universe together, Leadership Lives…in the Infinite Space between Management and Skill Set and holds our businesses and lives together.