They Just Might Become the Leaders You Want Them to Be!

You recognize some of the names in the banner. Regardless of your age, generation, or other demographics - and even if you are not American-born - many names have international recognition. However, you may not recognize the highlighted name. She is a leader whom you just might come to know at some point in her life. As of this writing she is a 14-year-old take-action leader!

All the names in the banner - and thousands more - are, or were, Girl Scouts or Girl Guides, organizations that develop leaders in many walks of life. Yes, the same can be said for the Boy Scout organization. Yet I'm a Girl Scout lifer, this is my leadership editorial, so I take the liberty of focusing on female leaders.

Where am I going with this? I'll tie a leadership lesson, a management tip, and a 14-year-old young lady into commentary that suggests that if you start your charges early with guiding principals you determine will shape their development as leaders, "they" just might become the leaders you want them to be.

Let's start with the 14-year-old: My pride in being a Girl Scout blossomed when I saw this recent article in The Washington Post . I remember the lessons instilled in me by my troop leaders as early as when I was a Brownie Girl Scout (oh so many years ago!) Those lessons included many that the subject of the above article shares.

• When you believe in something, be an advocate and stand up for what you believe. Make your voice heard.
• If "someone ought to [fill in the blank]", be the "me" in someone. (Sidebar: this is the title of a book I have in the works so please let me get it out before you claim the phrase.)
• Take care of the planet.
• Clean up after yourself. (Otherwise learned as leave no trace.)
• Use resources wisely. (Part of the Girl Scout Law.)
• Hold those in power accountable to their purported values.

I love how Nethra points out that, “If they’re teaching us all these skills our whole lives, we feel like they should be following them too.”

Next, I move to the leadership lesson. She makes an astute observation at her young age. “A lot of people, their focus isn’t on doing the right thing. It’s doing the easier thing." Light-bulb self-check moment! What choice would you make - and action would you take - in the following situations (which happen to be real ones I've experienced in my employment, business ownership, and non-profit leadership positions):

1. You find a spreadsheet with confidential information about your colleagues that was left on the office copier. You can't help yourself and take a peek at the information. There's some upsetting data you've seen that sticks in your mind. Now what?
2. You discover that a potential client, who has been professional and cordial in your videoconference conversations and you're ready to sign a contract to work with their company, posts racist, sexist, and homophobic comments in their social media (which violate everything you stand for). Now what?
3. You lead a volunteer-run organization and continually express how much you value and need each person on the team. Then, a key team member expresses that they feel ignored and forgotten due to your oversight and inaction in the very area for which they are responsible. Now what?

Enough examples for a leadership self-check at this juncture. My leadership lesson omits a "right answer" to these "Now what?" questions. Cop out? Maybe, yet I know what I did and am doing in these situations. I contend that the real lesson is inside of you as you determine what you would do in these situations. Your responses to yourself are your lessons.

This is skewing long so I'll note the management tip and then wrap up. The tip (or multiples) is: Determine your and your organization's core leadership values. Convey them early - as soon as you onboard staff members and emphasize them throughout their growth journeys. Practice and be what you convey. Give them opportunities to make decisions - and make mistakes - on their own. Counsel and guide them accordingly. It's sometimes scary to realize you're leading people who might some day leave to pursue their own horizons, or who might become your leader.

Yet, the measure of the legacy you leave as a leader is in seeing "them" become the leaders you want them to be!

Think about it! Please share this writing with leaders you know and "follow" me to receive regular issues of this Leadertorial. I appreciate you for your attention to reading and sharing my messages.

Sylvia