A Good Leader
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I can get people from different walks of life engaged in building and supporting empathetic leadership. There are PLENTY of books and TedTalks that can tell you how business moguls and cultural icons lead, but none of this really matters at the end of the day. It matters what you believe makes a good leader, because by definition, that is how you are going to lead.
“Wait, I am not a leader!”
Well you are a leader (your paycheck might not reflect as much, sorry)! In some way, shape or form, you are leader of people and of culture. Yes, what you lead might feel insignificant, but all these acts of compassionate and empathetic leadership help define the culture you hope to live in. We lead by opening doors, we lead by saying happy birthday to a friend, we lead by NOT TAILGATING, we lead by making our beds, we lead by wearing a mask.
Leadership potential is all over the place, we just need to step back a little and see the forest. This is why I created a Quick Start Empathy Worksheet with a section dedicated to Defining Leadership. Put your definition down on paper, live up to it, and heck, show your boss-leader-person. Maybe get them to do the same thing. It's hard to change culture if we don't first define the things we like and dislike about it first.
Okay, enough...I am hungry and have to pick up the kids soon.
With energy, always!
Shelton
