Leading to Rome: The Roads You Choose

James R. Rector
Publisher, Profiles in Leadership Journal

“All roads lead to Rome.”

Not true.

Some roads lead nowhere. Some run in circles. A few end in ditches. Rome was reached because people chose the right roads, or had the courage to build new ones.

That’s leadership. The path is rarely given. You choose it, clear it, or create it.

Picture a Roman general walking the stone-paved Via Appia with his troops. He isn’t just marching; he’s visible. His presence says: This road matters. I’m on it with you. Leaders today face the same choice: some journeys demand your footprints.

But not all. Sometimes the greatest act of leadership is stepping aside, sending an emissary, trusting someone else to carry the banner forward. Delegation isn’t absence; it’s empowerment.

And no road works without a map. Even the strongest team can wander if they can’t answer three questions: Where are we going? Where are we now? What are our options? Maps don’t erase uncertainty, but they give courage a direction.

At the office, that looks like showing up for the hard meetings that define the culture, while trusting others to lead the ones that grow their strength. At home, it’s walking beside your child on the first bike ride, and later waving from the sidewalk as they take off alone.

Rome didn’t appear by accident. It was reached by vision, labor, and countless steps in the same direction.

So ask yourself:

What is your Rome?

Which roads are worth your footprints, and which must you entrust to others?

Because leadership is not about traveling every road. It’s about ensuring the right ones lead home.