No, I do not see myself as a leader, at least not right now, maybe not ever.

Three years ago, when my manager and I sat down for our first one-on-one meeting, he asked whether I want to take on a supervisory role. “Maybe in five years,” I told him, “but not right now.”

I’ve never seen myself as a leader. I’ve been a follower my whole life. I feel like it’s easier to have someone manage me as opposed of me managing them. I often think of myself as an underdog. Apparently, I’ve already written about being an underdog two other times on this blog.

Quoting my post, “It’s cool and awesome because underdogs are the quiet people. We are the mysterious people. We are the observers and thinkers. We have more ideas in our heads than you’ll ever imagine. We just don’t like to be in the spotlight.”

I have a suspicion though. That currently, unbeknownst to me, my manager is pushing me toward a role in the department. He’s doing things like having me train my coworkers on doing my former tasks. Meanwhile, I’m taking on tasks that’s completely new to me – tasks that involve me communicating with other departments. I feel like he did that on purpose, knowing what a shy person I am. Or maybe he’s just training me for a larger role somewhere down the road.