It’s raining in Los Angeles today. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.

What drives us to be leaders? Is it other leaders? What drives them? Is it justice? There’s always a certain calm when a good leader is involved. There’s order and people follow the rules because they feel inspired to. Sometimes I wonder how much strength is needed to be in charge. Not just of a department store, a company, or even a nation, but of people.

I look at Haiti and I think of how unfortunate it is that catastrophe brings us together. We always wait for the last moment to help someone or change someone’s life. What makes a leader is someone who instigates that kind of change in the world without waiting for the catastrophe to happen. It’s noticing what needs improvement before anyone else does and doing something about it. I think that is what makes a good leader. It’s not the speeches, or the way they dress. It’s being able to turn thoughts into words and words into actions. So I don’t think that today is just about Martin Luther King, Jr. I think that today should be about all of the leaders, both known and unknown who have stood up for what’s right and just and have done something about it when no one else would.