If you've been in business for a while, you have heard people describe themselves as leaders. They talk about their successful projects, how many staff they've managed, what products they launched, the top companies that hired them, blah blah blah.
They sure do talk a lot, huh?
The best examples of success and leadership are easily the ones you hear from someone who isn't talking about himself or herself. Former co-workers, contractors, other people's staff, customers... it's rarely about the thing they were doing - it's about their beliefs, how they treated people, what they did to inspire people. They just landed at place X or Y and that company benefited from their mere presence - as did the people around them.
If you want (to use leader-speak, yawn) and shift your paradigm, you can. If you would rather lead, check out this older TED talk to hear how people really interpret actions and will follow you.
http://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_how_great_leaders_inspire_action?language=en
