Many believe that being a leader means being a boss—they are not completely wrong. But in reality, there is a lot more to it than that.

A leader is someone that guides others to achieve their goals, and sometimes even more than that. Leadership is not a position or a title, it is a character. True leaders are those who get up every day, even after they have fallen down a thousand times; as cliché as this sounds, it is nothing but the truth.

A leader is strong and faces life even when it knocks them down. A leader teaches people by walking next to them, and never in front of them. A leader earns the authority by inspiring others and not by demanding things because it takes someone strong to move people.

But being strong, what does that mean? Strength comes from within. A strong character is built by failures, because in order to succeed, one has to fail many times. Because the one that fails and keeps trying is much stronger than the one that never failed.

Understand that a true leader knows how to handle other people, creates confidence, corrects mistakes, and never pushes people down to be on top of them; he helps people get to the top because the greatest accomplishment is creating more leaders. At the same time, he never follows anybody. A leader is known for believing in themselves, even if the entire world disagrees with them. Know that many leaderships start with loneliness, but almost never end with it.

A true leader is humble, because he appreciates and respects others, and a leader earns respect because respect is reciprocal. Leadership is a lifestyle, not a position. So, after reading this, remember; a leader may be a boss, but a boss may not always be a leader.

Now, do you consider yourself a leader?