I’m not a big football fan, but there was a piece written about Eli Manning that grabbed my attention in the wake of his teams’ Super Bowl victory last night (note- the article was written in August).

Apparently, Manning was asked if he was the same caliber quarterback as his competitor for the Super Bowl ring last night, Tom Brady. 

“Are you in the Tom Brady class? Are you in that type of quarterback?” Kay asked.

“Yeah, I consider myself in that class and Tom Brady is a great quarterback,” Manning said.

The article then goes on to say that this is exactly the kind of chest pounding reporters and fans have been waiting for from Manning:

It would have been so easy for Manning to deliver another boring, politically correct answer to make everyone yawn. But instead, he gave us something he rarely does — a strong opinion. He publicly displayed the type of confidence and fire that an elite quarterback needs to show.

For much of his career, Manning has been criticized on everything from his body language on the field to his leadership skills to his gee-whiz persona in interviews. And now the one time Manning expresses supreme confidence in himself, shows some swagger and answers a question the way he should — like a leader would.

What I found interesting about the article is that it hangs adjectives off leaders that many of the best don’t feel comfortable with- supreme confidence, fire, swagger. 

Leadership is a funny thing. Some are born with it, some grow into it and many want it and pretend to ascend to it with shortcuts like an overabundance of unearned confidence, fire or swagger.

One of the most rewarding parts of being an early stage investor is having a front row seat for the personal development of leaders. In many cases, founder’s leadership attributes are blinding obvious to us at the outset. Other times, they’re more subtle and take time to emerge. In each case, the process of becoming a leader is often imperceptible to the person going through the transformation. 

Despite all of their progress and personal development, often leaders trap themselves in the mentality they started their venture with. Tho we see their development happening day after day, decision after decision, they don’t. 

Then, one day something big happens.  And they realize that they have become, in part, the kind of person that others look to for leadership. And that through their process of development they’ve surrounded themselves with people who’ve often believed in them more than they believed in themselves.

The article finishes with a quote from Manning I found telling:

“He (Tom Brady) is a great player. He has grown up and gotten better every year, and that is what I am trying to do.”

That’s what it means to become a leader.

It’s not supreme confidence, it’s not fire and it’s not swagger. It’s doggedly and unglamorously trying to improve day after day, year after year.

The real challenge of becoming a leader is permitting oneself to let go of the old “them” and accepting and owning the person and leader they’ve been developing into all along.