Monday, July 2

Leadership Maxim #1 -- Leadership Begins with You

Everyone is a leader of someone because everyone has the opportunity to influence another person. Think about the people you come in contact with on a daily basis. Think about those people who were kind, who offered a smile or a hand, who went out of their way to make you feel valued. Now think about those who were perhaps rude, abrupt, never offering a smile or a kind word. Now who made the greatest impact on your life? Who would you go out of your way for the next time?

Everyone influences someone. It is how we influence that makes all the difference. We must start with how we ourselves want to be treated. Leadership must always begin with ourselves. Of course the person who values us, who smiles freely, and offers assistance is the person we would place a higher value on in terms of influence. So, are we like that person? Do we value others? Are we loving the other?

When we speak of love and leadership, we are not talking about "love the feeling", but about love as a verb. Leadership has nothing to do with how one feels. It has to do with how one behaves toward the other.

The old saying still rings true today, "People don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care." When we learn to effectively lead ourselves first, then and only then, can we effectively lead others.

To lead is to serve,
Coach Carolyn

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