At the center of trying to figure out the key to leadership is the answer starring back at you. It is all that you do to take ownership. Where does all this rest? It is squarely in your lap in the duties you have in your home, your community, and in your dreams.
It is incumbent upon each of us to take stock of how we assert ourselves in our homes and personal lives. With the daily living we do taking care of necessities and the unexpected we must be in charge of our destiny. When storms hit, do we wait for a neighbor to secure the household? When the car needs repair do we wait for the service station to call us? No! We step up and heed the call to do the necessary!
Likewise, we must recognize that complaining about unsavory politicians or unwieldy regulations in our neighborhoods does nothing. Until we stand up and speak out nothing will change. This requires a small voice to ring the bell for change. Gandhi once said “A small body of determined spirits fired up by an unquenchable faith in their mission can alter the course of history.” And we can see this is true with the action taken by activists who balked and influenced bank fees.
Finally, it is true that to live our dreams we must breathe life into them. We must envision ourselves doing that good deed, carrying out that goal, making good on that promise. It is the marathon runner who sees herself victorious at the finish line. It is the scientist who leads his own quest when he claims the cure to a noted disease after countless failed attempts.
When we are true leaders we acknowledge that the dream we have can only exist if we crack the code and unveil the mystery.
-Dawn McCoy, author of Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success
