This week, there will
be a celebration of the life and legacy of two leaders who have had a
significant impact on my life and the lives of countless other professionals.
These individuals were my major professors in graduate school who taught me not
only important content lessons but life lessons as well. This got me thinking
out loud that as leaders, we need to make it a priority to recognize and honor
those leaders who invested in us to help makes us the leaders we are today.
Just think about. I
would bet you did not automatically become the great leader you are today
overnight! Sometime, somewhere along the way, someone poured their life into
yours. They sacrificed their time and energy to insure we were equipped to face
the personal and professional challenges they just knew we would someday face.
I would further wager they did so without expectation of reciprocation or
personal reward. They just did it because that was just the kind of person they
were in the first place. In light of that, here is what I consider the value in
personally honoring and recognizing those who added value to you:
First, in doing so, it
reminds you of what they taught you. The lessons they taught you then are just
as valid today.
Second, it grounds and
humbles you back to a time when you did not know as much as you think you did
but were pushed to do more than you ever thought you could!
Third, it encourages
you to pay it forward to the next
generation of leaders and use these high impact people as an instructional
example of how you can do this for someone else.
Finally, one of the
greatest gifts you can give someone is the gift of relevance and significance.
As we age it is normal to wonder what our efforts mean. Do our lives count?
Did we give more than we took? Are we making our little corner of the world
better? Actually telling someone they did all that and then some will be
incredibly fulfilling to both them and you.
So find that teacher,
coach, professor, former boss, minister, etc. on Facebook or in person. Make it
your leadership priority this week to tell them the impact they made or are
making in your life.
To conclude, it is
with the highest admiration, the deepest of respect, and the most positive of
regards that I honor Dr. Roger Winston and Dr. Ted Miller - thank you gentlemen
for helping me realize my potential and discover my purpose.
As always, if I can help you and the people you associate with
Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would love to hear from you. Also, as
a bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will
send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your
organization! Such an initiative would be critical in order to add value to
your organization!
Yours
in Leadership,
Bill
Faulkner
Co-Founder
– Out Loud Strategies
Independent
Coach, Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email = bill@outloudinc.com
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