Owning your leadership journey.
Leaders are born? Raised? Appointed? Prepared for leadership for years?
Well, we have seen all of those and a lot of articles looking at what makes a good leader: Are they born? Cultivated? Grown? Nurtured? Drawn from scratch? I do not think this will ever be decided. You have your own way and that is it. However, it is important to own your leadership journey. It is the cornerstone of your integrity, the way you present yourself and perceive yourself as a leader. It is the key to your influence. Believe it or not, your story will shine through.
So here is the story I own. I hope it shines through.
I am a third child. My brother and sister would say I was spoiled. My experience is somewhat different: I had to manage on my own, because my parents already had a lot to handle. True, everyone loved me, but they did not have much time for me and I had to solve problems when they came. I will ever be grateful for these early years of skills development. I am not waiting for others to solve my problems: I take the lead and the responsibility coming with it.
I am a woman. I was hardwired to think that being smart and wanting to be a leader is not sexy. More on that later, but this experience makes you patient and teaches you to nurture relationships outside the war zone of privilege. I had amazing professional women to make me believe it is possible to excel in your profession and as a mother: my grandmother had 3 children and had a leadership position at a school, my mum also had 3 kids, graduated as a mathematician, kept learning new things and finished her career as a Controlling Director.
I got the power. I need to stop here for a bit. Because I did not want the power. I had it. People listened to me and believed what I was saying. And I am still not sure why. But looking back I can point at one major thing: I did what I say. Later I learnt it has something to do with integrity.
Of course, there are million other things added to these first layers, but these first layers will stay with you forever. So what do these early impressions and experiences leave you with?
Ooops, this blog post is becoming too long, so I will finish with a few questions and I hope you will come back for the next episode (sounds like Netflix, doesn’t it?):
Tell your own story! Name the three most important influences in your childhood that shaped you as a leader: parents, siblings, coaches, community, trauma, success, sports, pets, political situation etc. We are curious at
curious@mindberriseconsulting.com
To be continued!