Making It Simple

Over the next couple of months, I’ll be hosting some of my favourite bloggers who will share their ideas and insights on leadership and business with my readers here on this blog.  To kickstart this monthly guest appearance, I’d like to introduce you to Becky Robinson, who some of you might know as @LeaderTalk on Twitter.  Becky has been writing, promoting, and managing the LeaderTalk blog for Mountain State University since it began in April 2009.  In March 2010, she accepted the position of serving as an adjunct faculty member in Mountain State’s Bachelor of Science Organizational Leadership program.

I have been blogging about leadership for many months now. Part of my job is to promote the leadership degree programs at Mountain State University. Lately, that has become easier for me because as an adjunct faculty member, I have a front row seat to what goes on in our programs. Teaching in one of the programs has given me a clear picture of what we offer and why it works.

Here’s the conclusion I have drawn about leadership.

It’s simple.

I am not saying that leadership is easy. It’s not. Leading yourself and others is a life-long journey that requires commitment, focus, and determination. Above all, it requires you to look beyond yourself and to maintain an outward focus, one of serving others.

Leadership is making a difference wherever you are, every day.

How do you do that?

Leading others happens in the context of relationships.

Ultimately, any difference we can make is accomplished through our relationships. So wherever there are relationships, there are opportunities for leading.

Relationships are everywhere. Our world bursts with opportunities for people to make a difference by leading others.

We can make a difference at home, in a multi-national corporation, in a local business, in a school, at the mall, in a law enforcement agency, in a hospital or clinic, in the courtroom, at the gym, on a mountain-top, on the beach, online, in a crowded bar, next door, across the street, around the world.

Opportunities to lead are everywhere.

To grow our leadership skills, we get involved in relationships with others . As we interact, discuss, problem-solve, debate, experiment, and reflect, we can learn and grow in our leadership skills.

See? It’s simple.