My Version Of Leadership

Leadership. Good leadership is lacking or being stifled in this world. We live in a place that is full of tyrants and general scumbags. This has nothing to do with what side of the aisle you face, either. Both sides are filled with trash. That said, the corrupt plague our workplaces, our social media channels, and our daily lives in ways big and small, not just our political standings.

So, what is leadership?

You can Google "leadership" and find post after post displaying people's beliefs. In my experience, leadership is made up of the following concepts:

• Be Humble - you're not always right. Realize and accept it. No, really. It's OK.
• Be Self-reflective - accepting that you're not always right, search within yourself. Be honest. Be better.
• Implement Feedback - whether it's from self-reflection or from others providing you with insight, positive adjustment of YOU will only help.
• Have Courage - to do the right thing, to listen to positive feedback, or to say no and disconnect, even when it's not what 'all the cool kids are doing'.
• Give Honest Approval - all the positive changes going on around you deserve your approval equally as much, if not more than, the negative earning your disapproval.
• Provide Positive Solutions - redirect negative situations away with impactful adjustments to fulfill your goals.
• Be a Teacher  - leadership is learned. Educate others using the tools that you were given.

We can't all be Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., or Bill Belichick. Buy hey. you can just be you. 

Boundaries

It's unfortunate that so often a small group can misdirect us toward chaos. We cannot control their feelings or actions, but we can control ourselves. We can choose to disconnect from those who do not mean to improve us or our surroundings. We have the ability to say no, to remove ourselves from the chaos, or to provide solutions to calm the effects. We may still have to be around them, but we do not have to change ourselves for them. Rise above. I've had to learn this the hard way... and I'm still learning.

Acceptance

Above all else, leaders know and grow acceptance. It starts with acceptance of yourself. Once you can learn to accept your own faults and singularity, you can grow. If you can accept yourself, you can learn to accept one another.

Do great things. If you can't, do what you can:

Take care of one another.