The Trap of Small Leadership Starts in Your Head

Is it better for a sheep to lead a pride of lions, or for a lion to lead a flock of sheep?

You’d think the question is hypothetical. But every day, I see it play out in boardrooms, classrooms, living rooms. Leaders with the roar of a lion buried somewhere inside, but living like sheep. Teams full of capable, sharp-minded people, but suffocated by a leader’s small self-image.

The trap isn’t the environment. The trap is the story in your head.

I’ve spent my life testing this paradox. Can the leader’s identity shrink the entire flock? The answer is yes. Every single time. A Gallup study once found that nearly 79% of people feel disengaged at work, not because they’re lazy or untalented, but because no one ever leads them to see who they really are or what they could be. They’re told to be themselves, but no one helps them find the self they’re meant to become. From sheep to lion.

Biology backs this up. The brain’s default mode network likes to conserve energy by replaying the same script. It will keep telling you the sheep story until you question it. So you stay small. You blame the ground you stand on instead of asking if your roots were ever deep to begin with.

People want to jump ship when they don’t like what they see. But if you never look inward, you’ll bring the same small leadership everywhere you go and call it bad luck.

When You Live Like a Sheep But Were Born a Lion

I failed high school. I trembled and had sleepless nights whenever it was my turn to do a presentation. I never imagined stepping through the gates of Monash University. To me, Monash was just for photo taking, not for someone like me to study there.

There was a season when I thought maybe I’d sell pirated DVDs at Holiday Plaza, sell used computer parts like RAM or display cards. Maybe I’d take over my parents’ business. But it looked too busy, too heavy, and honestly, I didn’t see my purpose in their business. My path was never like those straight-A students. My life has always been lived on the margin.

I struggled to enter Monash foundation. I struggled through my undergraduate studies. I barely passed, but somehow I managed to graduate. Isn’t that a miracle already? Then, miraculously, I got offered a lecturer job. You must be kidding me. I could barely pass my exams, and now I had to stand up and teach others? That was the starting point of another real miracle, from sheep to lion.

I “teach to learn.” That motto became one of my favourites. Because of my students, I did my own study and research. The more I taught, the more I learned. Not just accounting techniques. I wanted to help my students get the idea. Then I realised, they weren’t interested. So I had to spark that interest. I had to inspire.

Then I realised I couldn’t inspire if I only maintained a lecturer-student relationship. Having authority doesn’t guarantee connection. Like trust, it has to be earned. I had to make them trust that I genuinely loved them and wanted the best for them. Many educators care for their students, but students don’t care that you care unless they feel that your care matters. This is seriously an art. How you break the ice. How you pull instead of push. But there’s good news. There are timeless principles that have been here for thousands of years. When you’re self-centered, this thing definitely fails.

And what’s the outcome of living this from sheep to lion? Year after year, I’ve maintained a consistent record of producing Top in Malaysia for accounting. Students who, like me, once felt like sheep, average, afraid, overlooked, now roar like lions too. Same story, new generation. The mirror multiplies. That’s the real fruit.

I went back to teach at Monash again. Completed my master’s. Completed CPA Australia, teaching my students was the inspiration behind getting my CPA. Then I started an academy business. And then Stellar. What was the turning point? I told myself, I need to rise to be a lion for my students. From sheep to lion.

So yes, I know the sheep loop well. The loop where you stay small. The loop where you blame the environment. The loop where you jump ship whenever it gets hard. The loop where you say, “Not my problem, not my responsibility.” The truth is harsh. You can change your environment every year, but if you don’t change your self-image, you’ll repeat the same loop, just with different people. From sheep to lion. That choice starts inside.

Direction Top-Down. Solution Bottom-Up.

Another part of this paradox is that many teams get stuck because they confuse direction with solution. I’ve seen this over and over in coaching sessions, corporate projects, classrooms. People want the freedom to solve things but they panic when there’s no clear direction.

Direction is top-down. Solution is bottom-up.

If you want to build a house, the leader must say, “We’re building a house.” That’s direction. But the team should figure out, “How do we lay the foundation? What materials do we use? How do we make it future-ready?” That’s solution.

Without clear direction, people flail. They offer idea after idea. They get rejected. They feel powerless. They lose trust. Worse, they get blamed for building the wrong thing. When the structure collapses, the sheep leader blames the flock.

Look at Netflix. They reinvented themselves multiple times. DVDs by mail, then streaming, then original content. Reed Hastings didn’t micromanage every solution. His direction stayed clear. “Stay ahead of how people consume stories.” The solutions came from the ground up.

But not all impact is good. History proves this. One bullet started World War I. That bullet’s ripple triggered alliances and hatred that dragged the world into World War II. One person’s impact, unchecked, can echo for generations.

What’s the impact you’re multiplying? From sheep to lion, it’s your choice.

Awaken the Lion in Your Sheep

You know the worst advice I ever heard? “Be yourself.” It comforts the sheep. It keeps you grazing in the same small patch of grass. “You don’t need to change. You’re fine as you are.” No. Be who you’re meant to be. Grow into the lion that was always buried inside you.

Biology backs this up. Research shows mirror neurons fire when we see someone model courage or fear. Leadership is contagious. So is smallness. When a leader walks around afraid to be disliked, afraid to take risks, afraid to roar, they infect the whole flock with fear. But when a leader stands up, cracks open new possibility, they give the sheep a taste of what it’s like to be a lion.

Harvard Business Review found that teams led by empowering leaders perform 38% better. Not because they’re smarter, but because they start to believe they can do more than they first thought. From sheep to lion.

The truth is, the opposite of real leadership isn’t following. It’s keeping people so small they never have to grow. That’s the real sheep mentality. The leader who refuses to roar.

Not for me. Not anymore.

The Reverse That Redefines It All

You want to lead? Look in the mirror first.

You want to impact lives? Break the loop where you blame the ground and jump ship when the ground cracks.

You want to grow lions? Stop grazing like a sheep.

My mother’s voice still echoes. “Rise. You’re not a sheep.” That voice pulled me through failed grades, sleepless nights, trembled presentations, awkward lectures. It turned a sheep into a lion. And that lion now raises more lions. That is the real impact.

So here’s my question for you.

Where are you still leading like a sheep?

Where does your flock need you to roar?

And who’s waiting to find out they were never a sheep in the first place?

You have one life. From sheep to lion. Lead it well.