“New Cadet, step up to my line. Not over my line, not short of my line, but to my line.”
It was my first day at West Point. I could hear The Cadet in the Red Sash up ahead greeting each new victim in line with those words. One by one, New Cadets would step forward, receive a withering verbal assault, and be sent off.
As we moved along in the line, awaiting our fate, we hugged huge canvas bags full of our new army gear. When he finished berating the classmate in front of me, it was my turn.
“New Cadet, step up to my line. Not over my line, not short of my line, but to my line.”
Only then did I realize the problem. The canvas bag I was carrying completely obstructed my view of “his line.” I made a split-second decision to just go for it. I stepped forward with confidence and planted my feet firmly in front of him.
And I nailed it.
Proud of myself, I set my bag down—which he yelled at me about. So I snatched it back up—which he also yelled at me about. You get the picture; it went downhill from there.
That experience of blindly stepping up to the line has stuck with me. Today it helps me wrap my head around what it means to be authentic.
We all have a Line, a line of who we really are, what we truly know, and what we absolutely can do. But our line is hard to see. It’s blocked by a big bag of expectations, perceptions, titles and other “stuff” we carry around.
Whether we can see our line or not, becoming a trustworthy leader starts with stepping up to the Line of Who You Are. Not over it, not short of it, but to it.
We all know people who have stepped over their line. They pretend to be more than they really are—often out of insecurity or fear—and it comes off as arrogance. It’s hard to trust arrogance.
We also know people who have shrunk back from their line. Fear of failure—or fear of success—may have pushed them back. Regardless, they live in a humility of their own making and fail to fully engage. It’s hard to trust false humility.
Stepping up to your line takes courage and humility. It takes courage to face your fears and humility to offer up all of who you are, what you know, and what you can do—and trust that others will appreciate it. It’s easy to trust courage and humility.
Stepping up to the Line of Who You Are is worth it. It establishes your authenticity, reduces your stress, and draws others up to their lines as well.
For Reflection: How will you step up to the Line of Who You Are today?
Update: 93% Proposal Complete
With over 60,000 words written, I’m currently focusing on putting my book proposal together. I’m continued in the trenches with these Sample Chapters this week, and moved the needle 2% toward completion.
9/10 Content (10%)
9/10 Market (10%)
4/5 Author (5%)
24/25 Synopsis (25%)
47/50 Sample Chapters (50%)
93/100 Total (100%)
