Being a boss does not make one a leader, at least in the sense of an open-door leader. When it comes to creating opportunities for personal transformation, the term “leader” has less to do with hierarchy and more to do with the influence you bring to bear on people and situations. With a little courage, anyone at any level can be a leader. My journey toward becoming a leadership-development practitioner began when a courageous employee told me what a lousy leader I was. He told me this after I had pushed him to the point that he was ready to quit.