We tend to hear the most about ‘natural’ leaders. You know, the leaders who are ambitious, who are charismatic. It’s they who we think most about when we think about famous leaders through history. And there’s a reason for that. They got the spotlight in part because the spotlight was exactly what they sought.

But the truth is that many of the best leaders wanted nothing to do with leadership. Marcus Aurelius, for example, was not born to power, nor was he drawn to it. In many ways, power repelled him. Yet, as his teacher and advisor Fronto reminded him, no matter how much he wished otherwise or lost himself in his books, “against your will you must put on the purple cloak, not the philosopher’s tunic of coarse wool.”

Destiny called Marcus to something. Perhaps he could have run from it, but the fact that he did not yearn for command was precisely what made him great. He saw it as a job, not a chance for personal advancement. He saw it as duty, not a fulfillment of his ego. This happened to be a recipe for great leadership—this idea, as the writer Sam Walker put it, being happy to serve, reluctant to lead.

So the fact that you don’t see yourself as great. The fact that you’re not the first one to pipe up with a plan, that you don’t instinctively assert yourself over other people, this is not a weakness. It may well be your strength. And one day, it might make you as great as Marcus.