You See There's Leaders and There's Followers...

Kanye West said it best but i'll let you look up the rest of the lyric on your own. When I think of a leader, its hard to decide on the concrete characteristics that go into one. It seems like such a subjective decision and as we realized in class, what it takes to be a good leader is very much up for debate. Additionally, good leaders and bad leaders may possess many of the same characteristics but may exhibit different behavioral patterns. I guess my ideal leader is someone who isn't afraid to roll up their sleeves and do the dirty work. I think of a retail CEO who goes into stores and works the cash register. It takes a special person to take a company from the ground level and make it a success. It takes a leader to be humble enough to look at the business from every angle. Someone who I have recently learned much more about that I would consider the ideal leader is Steve Ells, the founder and CEO of Chipotle Mexican Grill. Steve thought of the idea for Chipotle while living in Denver Colorado and turned a vision for fresher "fast food" options into a company today that has over 1600 locations with revenue streams upwards of $3 Billion. You're probably thinking to yourself "yea the guy can make a lot of money. Big deal. What makes him a leader?". It's the attention to detail that makes Steve more than just a guy that had a revolutionary idea. He has taken the time to go into almost every single one of his stores in order to talk to him employees and ask for feedback on the way he runs his company. Rather than waiting for issues to arise with his business, he's been proactive with approaching potential problems and fixing them before they are insurmountable. This aspect of his business approach struck me as extremely innovative and fresh in terms of what companies are doing today. Between his ability to delegate, his honesty, and his never ending commitment to improving his product, Steve Ells is in my eyes, one of the biggest up-and-coming leaders that the world has ever seen. I only expect greater things out of him in the near future and hope to model my leadership strategy after the one he has adopted and used over the past several years.