I want you to take a moment and create the leadership avatar. What does this avatar look like if it’s considered the leader? What position does it hold? How many years of experience does it have? What has its career trajectory been?

More than likely, you picked a person with a college degree, perhaps a Master’s degree, who sits at the top or near the top of a company’s organizational chart. This person is probably pretty far into their career — at least 25 years. And they’re a leader not because of what they say and do but because of where they sit. Corner office, lots of windows, a couch for visitors to sit on.

I’m here to tell you to throw this image away. Leadership isn’t a position on the organizational chart; it’s a state of mind. Leadership is the ability to bring a vision to fruition. Read that again. It’s the ability to bring vision to fruition.

We all have this ability. In the events, hospitality and tourism industry, we move at a fast pace with a plethora of moving parts happening all at once and we’re always able to find the solution to bring a vision to fruition. You already are a leader — no matter what your title is on your business card. By changing your state of mind on what defines a leader, you’re able to tap into a new approach and methodology in your work which transforms your leadership.

As I’ve mentioned before, impact is igniting more passion to align your commitments and transform. When you’re doing the work of creating impact, you become highly focused and are a catalyst for change. By moving into this catalyst for change space, you create a new vision. It could be a new vision for your own career, a vision for how your department should operate, how your team interacts with customers, or how company-wide policies should be updated to meet a new standard. Your opportunities here are endless. The focus is on the catalyst for change and how you innovate to solve for the change. The vision and the fruition.

In the first article for this “Creating Impact” series, I explore the three P’s for impact: passion, perseverance and performance. This is the framework you circle back to. The vision is rooted in your passion. You see the change you want to create and you begin to identify how it aligns to your work.

Then you have to innovate. The good news here is that companies always need to innovate. Innovation is what keeps a company leading in its sector. It’s what allows it to reinvent for survival. Your changemaker attitude — i.e., your ability to be a catalyst and see the vision you’ve innovated for the company — creates your space as a leader.

Now you move into the perseverance and performance strategy. You persevere by working with all of the departments and stakeholders needed in order to implement your vision. You solve for the roadblocks. You find the right solutions. You test your methods and iron out the kinks. You pass your innovative solution through the ranks and gain approval to push forward.

Now, you perform. You implement your solution for your department or company-wide. You identify where it’s working and where it’s not. You redesign and improve upon what you’ve created. You continue on this path of improvement until it’s a smooth operation for all. You’ve brought your idea to fruition. It’s now being used by the entire company and receives rave reviews from clients. This is your leadership. This is how you alter your state of mind and step into the impact you want to create.

Most of the time, what holds us back is something in our head saying, “That’s not for us to solve” or “That’s not what I was hired to do” or “I’m not in a position to” … The No. 1 thing that holds you back from creating impact is your state of mind. Tap into the method above to throw out the old and step into the changemaker you want to be.

This is the third installment of  the “Creating an Impact” series by Courtney Lohmann, an award-winning leader, CSR and sustainability expert and the founder of Courtney Lohmann Consulting. Read her first and second installments now.