Arresting the Drift

I liked this bit of writing I received recently...

...In the East…where the desert touches a river-valley or oasis, the sand is in a continual state of drift from the wind…, which is the real cause of the barrenness of such portions of the desert at least as abut upon the fertile land… But set down a rock on the sand, and see the difference its presence makes. After a few showers, to the leeward side of this some blades will spring up; if you have patience, you will see in time a garden. How has the boulder produced this? Simply by arresting the drift.

Now this is exactly how good leaders and good leadership benefit humanity. A leader serves her/his generation, and at the same time serves the whole race, by arresting the drift."                            

George Adam Smith, Hebrew history scholar (altered)

So often we think that leadership is all about mind blowing transformation, more akin to an atomic explosion than a rock placed in sand.  Leadership is about influence, it does not have to be dramatic but can be slow and sure!  Change happens because we arrest the drift and cause people to settle and for life to rise!