“Put aside the ranger and become who you were born to be.”

One of the most iconic lines in the movie, The Return of the King – the final installment of the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

Do you remember the situation?

The evil forces of Mordor, under the leadership of Sauron and Saruman, were attacking middle earth: the home of men, hobbits, elves and dwarfs – the good guys.  Basically all hell was breaking loose – literally.

Middle earth had banded together to fight the evil hordes, but it wasn’t enough.  They were outnumbered and would suffer a defeat that would spell the end of man.

There was one hope…

Aragorn, known as Stryder, a skilled warrior and natural leader, was a “Ranger”: one who roamed the desolate places doing good deeds wherever he could.  Stryder/Aragorn had become a key leader of the ‘allied’ forces of middle earth.

However, Stryder wasn’t just a Ranger.  He was Aragorn, the rightful King of Gondor.  But Aragorn was afraid of who he was and who was destined to be.  He was afraid that he would be a weak king who fell prey to the spell of the evil ring of power as his ancestor had.  He didn’t particularly want to be king.

The reality was though, if he did not step into his true identity all would be lost.

Enter Elrond, King of the Elves, to meet with Aragorn the eve of the great battle for middle earth.  Elrond came bearing a gift.  The gift is Anduril, forged from the shards of Narsil.

Anduril is the Sword of the King.

Elrond thrusts the Sword of the King into Aragorn’s hands and exhorts him to put aside his insecurities, his lesser identity, and embrace who he truly is, who he was born to be…

The King of Gondor.

With the Sword of the King, Aragorn could step into his destiny as the king of men in middle earth.  And, what could turn the tide of the great battle, was that only the true King of Gondor could summon the Army of the Dead.

To cut a long story short, Aragorn does just that.  He takes the sword of the king and wields his true authority to enlist the Army of the Dead to fight on behalf of middle earth.  The forces of Mordor are overrun and the world is saved.

The battle was won because Aragorn exercised the courage to pick up and wield the Sword of the King.  He chose to lead with all the strength and authority afforded him.  He chose to release the limiting beliefs he had about himself and embrace who he truly was – a king.

That sounds like the same narrative leaders need to understand.

What have you believed about yourself you need to put aside?  What limiting beliefs cause you to be far less than you can be?  Are you afraid to pick up your authority and strength as a leader and wield it well?

A leader is like a King.  Kings are charged to care for those in their domain.  As are leaders of any scope or scale.  Good Kings help their people be better.  Good leaders help their people be better.

The Sword of the King represents the authority and strength of the king.  The Sword of the King brings justice, it opposes that which is meant to harm the people.  The Sword of the King represents the authority of the King and is also used to acknowledge position and bestow authority upon those whom the King chooses.

As a leader have you picked up your “sword”?  Are you wielding your authority and power well?  Are you using it to care for those in your care?  Are you using it to bestow authority to those you want to lead with you?

As leaders we need to put aside our limiting beliefs and become who we were born to be – strong leaders.  We need to be leaders who carry the ‘Sword of the King’ well: who wield our authority and power for the benefit of those in our sphere of influence and authority.

Become who you were born to be – pick up the Sword of the King.