A stream originating from hot springs in Suðurland (South Iceland)

First and foremost, leadership does not depend on being the first, the biggest, or the richest.  For most of its history, Iceland has been a rather scraggly country on the westernmost fringe of Europe.  Even in this day and age, for most people, it’s an afterthought: a place of interest that only rarely comes to the forefront barring a geologic or financial catastrophe.

Iceland has not sent a man to the moon, nor has a military of significant size, nor even a soft power that it can project upon others.  But it nevertheless exerts leadership, because Iceland has made the best out of its limited resources.

Through democracy (Iceland’s althing being the world’s oldest existent Parliament), work ethic, and generous financial assistance through the Marshall program, Iceland has been able to capitalize on the intelligence and diligence of its people, and ensures that even though it may not necessarily be at the front of the pack, people look at Iceland with a degree of regard and respect and, to a great extent, wish to emulate.

It seems like a generic observation, but our lives are defined by competition to be the most, the first, or the biggest.  And that’s important but that’s not necessarily what leadership is about.  Leadership, as far as I see it, is about being at one’s own personal best so that one can affect a change in the world.  And that self-confidence to translate personal potential into action, in turn, can prompt us to be leaders at the forefront as the biggest, the best, the first, etc.