Friday, December 5, 2008

What can I do to be a better leader?

Leadership opportunities abound and present themselves on a daily basis.  While they may be subtle, leaders are usually given at least a dozen opportunities to demonstrate leadership every single day.

These leadership opportunities are rarely available in the form of dramatic speeches, but most often present themselves in simple, yet significant interactions on a daily basis.

There's a quote by Helen Keller that drives home the value of these seemingly trivial, yet critical leadership moments.  She said, "I long to accomplish great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble.  The world is moved along not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker."

Most emerging leaders erroneously view and define leadership as the mighty shoves reserved only for the heroic captains of the team.  In actuality, however, it's the tiny pushes of leadership that happen more frequently and have the greatest impact over time.

4:13

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