Leadership Lessons

Posted by Rahna on January 15, 2009 under Uncategorized | Be the First to Comment

I’m going to Colorado this weekend  for the National Teen Leadership Council meeting of Adventure Unlimited’s  Discovery Bound program.  I have mentored a student throughout this program and he is graduating this weekend.  This program is a four-year commitment for these kids and is an outrageous way for them to learn about leadership, community service and working together.  The young man that I have mentored, along with all the others in his class, are going to do amazing things in the future. 

 

As I reflect on the past few years, here are some thoughts that I have:

 

Mentor someone:

You will learn as much (if not more) than they will. I don’t care who you are…you have something valuable to offer to someone.  Being a mentor means being a cheerleader-encouraging someone to keep going, even when things aren’t going the way they thought it would. How can you cheer someone on if you are feeling down yourself?  You can’t!  So mentoring someone will automatically put you in a more positive frame of mind (something we could use more of in this economy!).  In addition, a mentor is a teacher.  If there is something you want to learn, try to find a way to teach it.  You will have to know it well enough to really understand it. 

 

You can learn to be a leader:

Think back to what you were like at age 16.  Were you awkward? Full of bravado? Smart? Smug? Shy? Or maybe all of those things.  The kids that I have come to know in this program have decided that they WANT to be leaders.  So they are putting themselves out there, learning what leaders do and how they act.  If they can learn it, so can you.  The next point tells you how:

 

Continue to Build Your Leadership Skills:

In this program, these kids were learning about leadership skills.  We talked about vision and confidence and passion and servant leadership.  If you are in marketing, chances are you are leading in some capacity….Maybe you lead of team of people at work.  Maybe you lead your clients to the proper marketing execution.  Maybe you are leading a task force in your industry.  Leadership skills are universal and can be applied to anyone in any situation.  Take the time to brush up on your leadership skills.  There are several books on the topic which I highly recommend:

·         The Leadership Challenge by James Kouzes and Barry Posner

·         Essentials of Servant Leadership by Robert Greenleaf

·         Authentic Leadership  by Bill George

 

Be confident

One of the key skills that these kids had to build was public speaking.  They had to stand up in front of each other (about 100 people) and often in groups of 500 people to talk about a topic that they cared about.  They had to be prepared, they had to have the guts to get up in front of all those people and give that talk.  That is not easy, especially at age 16. Add to that the idea that you should try to captivate your audience, and it’s really not easy! 

 

Be Prepared:

I have found that one part of leadership (and public speaking in particular) is being prepared.  Yes, it helps if you have a sense of comic timing.  But gathering your thoughts ahead of time makes a big difference.

 

Be Passionate:

Another part is giving in to your passion.  If you are talking about something you care about, you are much less likely to be nervous.  In addition, you are much more likely to have a vision about something you care about. 

 

This weekend is a reminder to me about being a leader—what leaders do and what leaders are…something every marketer should stop and think about every once in a while.