Creating More Leadership Moments

What is Leadership?

We fool ourselves by fantasizing about leadership emerging from big moments and life-changing events. We put it on a pedestal.

Leadership is nothing but little moments when we think from our hearts. In moments where we choose courage over fear, what’s right over what’s easy, to say the right thing, have the right conversation, do what it takes, to serve a higher cause.

Who is a leader?

We all lead when we demonstrate the following behaviors:

• We are presented with the options of acting out of habit or acting out of intent, and, we choose intent.
• When we display empathy
• When we give because we genuinely want to give.
• When you choose to see impacting somebody’s life as an opportunity.
• When you admit that you do not know the way but choose to walk the path and explore.

What prevents us from being the best leader we can be?

We as humans are wired for connection, yet we are scared to show vulnerability. Afraid that the need to connect and achieve things together will take away our perception of being a strong leader. We forget that safety is a core need for all of us and a binding force. We need to be brave to be a leader and not to be afraid to be ourselves, to be authentic.

What is Authentic Leadership?

To be authentic is to live your story, knowing your strengths and weaknesses. Taking every setback in a stride and learning from it. Life is not a race. When we are all living our unique stories, with different paths, how can we be part of a race, for there is no winner or loser, just travelers through the journey of life. I love how Simon Sinek says leadership is like’ parenting’ where you have to take care of the person left to you and the person right to you. (Simon's TED Talk 2014-Why good leaders make you feel safe).

A leader I admired used to say ‘After all, we are all just stories’.

Authentic leadership is when our story is a story of living beyond ourselves. When we were able to build trust.

To live forever is to live in the hearts of people.

So, let us be true to ourselves, give with our whole hearts, build connections and collaborate to create more of those little moments where we can display leadership.