Leadership is a way of life, not a position…

I have worked with and for many people and in many organizations, and a couple of points have driven my thought on leadership over my life. Leadership is a method, a style, an aptitude of one’s thinking and mentoring capabilities. These capabilities are grounded in foundational characteristics:

• Inspires their colleagues
• Helps by teaching while being open to new ideas and learning
• Bravely tackles opportunities without showing fear
• Goes the extra mile for those around them
• Rolls up their sleeves, doesn’t ask anything that they are not willing to do themself
• Empathies with those around them, knows what it was like in the same situation

These characteristics did not include words like power, management, direction, or preaching since these are abilities can be taught. Leaders foster and grow compassion through life by seeing the best in people and opportunities around them. They then want to leave situations and people better than they found them.  

A quote from Colin Powell sums up these points: “Trust is what makes and drives an effective leader…”. Establishing trust among your colleagues, then growing that trust while nurturing their creativity and aspirations, will lead to a more truthful and compassionate leader. So as you rise in the morning and have the first cup of coffee, or before you retire to bed in the evening, spend a minute to reflect on the day, a situation, or a person where you had the opportunity to lead and how you seized the moment. Your life has been filled with these opportunities to grow and nurture these characteristics, so I challenge you to learn and grow from them.

#leadership #compassion #inspiration