When can you call yourself a leader?
Tuesday, January 7, 2014 at 2:00PM Ok, hands up, how many of you think you are a leader?
I admit I can’t see the show of hands, but I am willing to bet that most of you would say you aren’t. Like in most other things, we women tend to down play our capabilities and the impact we have.
I remember when my daughter started school. At the first parent teacher meeting the teacher said “she is a natural leader”, at five years of age! Recently, almost 18 years later, I was helping her with her CV. Despite it being obvious to others, she really couldn’t see that she had demonstrated leadership many times. Like when she resolved conflict between her flat mates were divided over how to pay the household bills. Or when she identified and implemented improvements in the ways of working in her part time job at the local deli.
If you are like her, then you may only consider yourself as a leader if you lead a team. The truth is that being a leader is not a position that you hold – you can lead from anywhere, from any position in an organisation, in any walk of life. Yet still many women don’t think of themselves as leaders despite the fact they are actually leading projects at work, in the community or at home, or in their own business.
Consider these questions for a moment:
-
Do you have a view of what a good outcome would be (a vision) – something that is greater than yourself and wouldn’t happen otherwise? It doesn’t have to be big – just something that you want to be different - it could be for your project, your team, your organisation, your community, your family?
-
Do you enlist the help of others to help you achieve that outcome? Do you inspire, influence or motivate them to do what has to be done? Whether they are your colleagues, your team, your suppliers, your network, your family members?
-
Do you help others achieve what they want?
If you still don’t believe you are a leader, then come along to one of our workshops. RECIPRO helps you see yourself as a leader, so you can even more successful and impactful in your life and work.
Reader Comments