Leaders often always go through adverse situations charting uncharted terrirotories before they get recognized as a ‘Leaders’. One who is on the leadership path is percieved very differently from rest of the mass depending on which phase of leadership he/she is in. And people react to leader’s deeds differently.

Lets categorize leadership phases based on how people would react when a leader ( YOU) takes an initiative:

1. Laugh: People would laugh on you. Quite possible, because you are doing something different than others. What you are doing makes no sense to others, otherwise they would have done it before you did. Maybe.
2. Silence: When you keep doing all the stuff which made people laugh , but then which generated results, it shuts the mouth of people who are laughing. Its a silence phase when mass stops laughing and quietly observe what you are doing. They try to understand what you do and how you to doit.
3. Follow: As a leader you continue do all the great stuff and people would start following you. There may be some bright talent around you who may get inspired by you and starts his own leadership phase, but most of them would follow you. They would try to mimic what you already did.
4. Worship: This is an ultimate stage and I guess not so easy to attain. Most of the leaders we know may fall under phase #3. This is stage where people start worshipping you almost if not same as God. People can do anything for these leaders.

So now you know that when you take a new thoughtful initiative and people are laughing on you, probably you are on a leadership path.

This I learnt many years ago while I was still doing my studies, from a person I admire  Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra.