I remember thinking in high school that the people we called leaders simply figured out which way the wind was blowing, then got in front. This is a politician. This is not a leader.
A leader is someone who has a clear vision, a deep and uncompromisable integrity, and the capacity to influence people.
Do you go where the people are, and go in the direction they are going; or do you speak of what you believe, and ask people to come to you?
The first is the talent of the rootless fool, and the other that of the genuinely good person.
In life you must compromise all the time on the outside, but you do not have to compromise on the inside. Memory is the tool of the great.