Command presence is a military term used to describe the unique and sterling quality of leadership. It is a quality that instills confidence and a sense of duty in those who follow.
Leadership is a valuable presence that has been demonstrated continuously throughout history. It has an elusive quality, difficult to describe, but is instantly recognizable when encountered.
Political leaders leave behind a story that instills confidence, regardless of the number of years gone by. Winston Churchill changed the tide of history with his voice, his words, his wartime speeches; Martin Luther King Jr. used his discerning mind to recognize the crucial time, the defining moment, where the tide of time was ready to hear the message of racial equality.
Leadership is crucial in all levels of organized society, in the people who lead businesses, corporations, schools, non-profit organizations, towns, cities, provinces and countries, in missions to explore space, and within the dynamic of team sports.
Leadership is as much about knowing when to lead as it is, in the case of raising children, about knowing when it is time to release them from the protective guidance of parenthood and let them sing their own song.
People who possess command presence are comfortable with themselves. They are decisive and confident in who they are and in what they believe. People who display natural leadership can inspire others to realize the gifts, talents and abilities they bring to the table and create opportunities to bring those qualities to bear upon the results. True leaders possess compassion, knowledge, empathy and direction.
For those to whom leadership comes naturally, the question of legacy seldom, if ever, comes to the fore. True leaders do not lead for the sake of leading. They do it because it is inherent in their character, their genetic makeup. With many instances where command presence and leadership are required, there is rarely, if ever, the opportunity to bring attention to the victories—both great and small—that are achieved. It is something best left to others. And, if the life in question has been lived by principle and in practice, what is remembered will be enough to honour them.
In the end, the tale of history is told not so much by the words spoken as by the physical act of leadership.
