The Importance of a Leader

I've heard throughout my life that people would rather be led than lead. While I've acknowledged that this is more or less true for the majority of people, I never thought that I would experience it first hand. I thought that I had surrounded myself with a group of friends who were leaders. Today, I found that this was just not true. While trying to coordinate a brunch with roughly 10 people, everyone dropped the ball today, myself included.

Multiple cars with multiple people leaving at multiple times. You would think that when every single person has a smartphone, this wouldn't be an issue. You would think that someone from each group would be wise enough to coordinate with the other two on where the others were and when to meet. You would think that everyone should try and pick up the slack a little instead of just letting one person have to manage it all.

You sure just did a lot of wrong thinking.

Normally, this probably wouldn't have even been an issue. However, I'm currently in the process of setting up a phone plan and transferring my number over to Google Voice, so my phone is wonky at best and I'm unfamiliar with exactly what I can and cannot do currently with regards to calling, texting, and data. I would normally take the leadership position and get everyone where they needed to be, when they needed to be.

So I'm driving. I don't really like to use my phone when I'm driving through a city with pedestrians and lights and a billion other distractions. I especially dislike doing so when I have passengers, as this also risks their lives. I practically have to beg someone else in the car to call/text anyone from the other two groups to find out what's happening.

People are extremely reluctant to do anything proactive and would rather just sit around and wait for someone else to strike a path. While I'm not ok with this, I am extremely disappointed that the brilliant people I associate with are also this way. I guess I've never noticed how much it irritated me until I was unable to just do the action myself.