You probably didn't miss it, but in case you did, @ned announced 70% of Steemit Inc had to be let go because of the worse than expected influence of the bear market on STEEM's price. It was a good bit after midnight already when I read that post, and in the end I went to bed at 4 AM. I'm still processing the news more than 20 hours later, but the word leadership is constantly echoing in the back of my mind - I don't know if I'll have something useful to say, but let me just start writing.

What is leadership?

I've always had a very conflicted relationship with 'leaders', especially in the more profit-focused companies I worked for.

• One of my CEO's was good with numbers and 'making deals'. He should have been a CFO and take on a visionary leader.
• Another had a vision, a dream of a better future, but couldn't translate this to anything concrete, in the meanwhile yelling at employees to 'make something innovative happen'. He should have written inspirational books.
• I worked for a CEO who thought she had to be as distant as possible to gain the respect she thought she deserved for being in that position. I showed her my way and in that process she became better liked by all her employees.
• I worked for a CEO that became my friend and we walked through the world as if we were two rebel women fighting for a better world. We should have accepted a third person that would have balanced out our overlapping ideals.

I've learned something from every one of these leaders, and I know they all have learned something from me. I was never their boss, their leader, but by always treating people like they are my equal and sharing my views on different topics no matter what I always made sure we were exchanging - which meant we both could learn and grow.

The important thing is: I've never had a boss that was a perfect leader. One that 'had it all'. I'm highly sceptical a perfect CEO exists, a perfect CEO is a highly mythical creature that we might all be looking for, but will forever hide in the woods.

It took me a while to learn I shouldn't be frustrated that this person carrying the title CEO wasn't 'perfect', but instead that I could simply try to balance out their imperfections by acting on what I thought could be better.

Where are our leaders?

With that bit of background in the back of my mind, listening to @ned's words, seeing some people step up, missing some other people that I expect to step up, I kept wondering who are our leaders. Actually, I know quite well who my leaders are, but I'm not sure if everyone in this community realizes that we have hundreds, thousands of leaders, and which are theirs.

Centralized leadership is passé

We don't need a Mark Zuckerberg - the one all-deciding man that gives us a crappy interface and gets to decide which updates of friends and family we do or don't see. We don't need one person that we all look up to and that has to tell us where we are going or what our social experience will be like tomorrow by simply changing it from one day to another.

Decentralized leadership is freaking awesome

No, we need many many leaders, all doing their thing, sharing that one skill they excel in, and all of those leaders together will in the end create something that comes close enough to the mythical perfect CEO.

• We need a @meno providing hard-working talented Minnows with a community they can thrive and develop themselves in.
• We need @exyle to always give a level-headed opinion on different topics daily, and @therealwolf to always be present to guide us in times of hardship without adding to the drama
• We need @aggroed and @yabapmatt to create a highly successful app and matching community that creates a steady stream of activity and trading on the blockchain.
• We need @coruscate and @anomadsoul to create a @steemonboarding project that gets Steem closer to mass adoption
• We need a @crimsonclad endlessly and patiently explaining the most diverse topics to each and every Plankton over and over again.
• We need @taskmaster4450 and @tarazkp because they're always able to put a lot of what's happening here in a broader technical of philosophical framework that helps us see the bigger picture
• We need @nathanmars being awesome and offer to work for free for Steemit Inc.
• We need @partiko and @steemhunt and @steemmonsters showing us how to constantly improve by actively learning and developing while keeping the community involved and engaged.
• We need @alexvan offering some suggestions for Steemit Inc in a very honest comment.
• We need... [...]

[I took this picture because I was proud I had just let myself be helped. I became a better person once I realized I didn't have to do everything all by myself. Sometimes I forget. But often I remember just in time my biggest successes were accomplished when I asked for help.]

The thing is - we often don't realize who our leaders are, and worse, we don't realize that we are leaders ourselves. If you have any skill that's needed to develop this blockchain, be it awesome content making skills or being a smart and present witness or being a high-level developer: you are needed and you can be a leader.

You offering your skills to projects, to help people with tasks that aren't strictly yours, by answering some 'n00b' questions even if it's for the trillionth time on Discord - it's all leadership, leading by example, by explaining, by sharing, by engaging - and all of that leadership combined can make oceans move on Steem.

Who are your leaders?

Probably, you are one

Start by accepting and embracing that you probably are a leader - whether you lead 10 people through a few DM's on Discord, or inspire hundreds through your inspirational posts on Steem. Then start acting just a little more on that leadership, by doing just a tiny bit more than you did yesterday.

Probably, so many others are as well

Then realize that everyone you know might be a leader as well. Or you already know, because they are the first author you want to read after waking up.

Empower those leaders.

Check which witnesses are currently stepping up and are willing to work through the dirt, and cast your vote for them. Check which community people are trying to give pep-talks to all the Newbie Steemians, and support them by doing the same for one or two newbies yourself. Welcome people who just arrived on the blockchain and have no idea why their upvote is worth zero cents. Add your graphical skills to a new project you want to support. Record a video on why you believe in Steem's future. Ask a friendly developer if they're interested in helping you get your app idea 'launched' even though it's in a bare bones alpha version. Go through Github and see which tasks need to be done. Create your 'everyday' content, every day. Leave a simple uplifting comment at a befriended author, but also at an author you've never engaged with. Gather a team of people for a crowdfunding project that saves Steemit Inc or betters the onboarding process so we're close to reach mass adoption.

Don't put them on a pedestal or put all critiques on the one

Also, don't be afraid to submit a wishlist to @ned's inbox. Tell him what you want him to do as well. Because he's still one of our leaders, one that we should engage with like he should with us. I personally would love to see him make better use of the community. Ask us for more input. Ask us if he can borrow our skills, or if we are willing to use our network to achieve a certain goal. Give us some numbers to play with, like the man hours he needs to launch SMT's. Give us a list of tasks that we can do without having to know all the ins and outs of the development process per se.

Let him lead with us, and us with him.

Be a leader and support your leaders. Share with someone that you think they are a leader. Empower people. Ask leaders to be a little beter. Be(come) a leader yourself. Inspire your leaders, and let them inspire you.

Also, let me know: who is YOUR leader? And, how are YOU leading?

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