lifestyle

Empowerment: Becoming a Leader and Achieving Dreams

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I write a lot of leadership books for executives and CEOs, but as a mom I can't help but relate the character traits of a leader to the character traits of an exceptional friend, spouse, parent, or sibling. When you possess the personality of a leader, you strive to serve others, lead them to success, teach them new things, and empower them to make decisions that benefit the entire team. When someone feels empowered, they don't feel pressured or intimidated. They feel connected to the goal, to the mission, and to the other individuals involved.
Girl in a green field with blue skys

Becoming a Dream Maker

I like to tell my kids, "When you grow up, be a dream maker!" That's because I love making peoples dreams come true. I love it when a friend I've coached through a challenging problem overcomes. I love it when a homeless person writes and publishes a book. I loved it when my four year-old learned to snowboard and my six year-old learned to fly fish, both in the same year. I like to say I'm a dream maker, and that anything is possible.
This anything is possible thinking is a trait of many leaders.
Joel Small, author of the book, Face to Face Leadership says that "the three primary qualities of great leaders are awareness, authenticity, and engagement." Engagement is an unspoken act that speaks volumes about who we are. When we are engaged, we care about the people around us. The opposite is emotional absenteeism which is prevalent in our iPod, Facebook, iphone driven culture.

Serving as the Thermometer of Your Home

Have you ever had dinner with a friend who couldn't put down their text messaging? Emotional absenteeism is subconscious, but it infects our relationships, corrupting the quality of our connections. Make a decision to be the leader, no matter what's going on in your life, or home.
Joyce Meyers said that you are the thermometer in your own home. I love this analogy; no matter who you are, you can set the temperature in your own home. I'm going to strive to be better than I was yesterday, and to lead people to greatness. In practical terms, I'm going to lead my kids to understand how to be anything-is-possible thinkers, and how to think differently from the crowd. I want them to give back, and leave a lasting legacy, and to develop character traits such as integrity, congruence, and compassion. But, I know it will take intentionality on my part to lead them.
Do you consider yourself to be a leader? Why or why not? What traits are important to becoming a leader?
Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Tammy Kling is a life coach, advocate for the homeless, and international author of 29 books including The Compass. Tammy is also the founder of Write it Out, an organization that helps gang members, the homeless, and those living on the street write out their hopes & dreams via writers workshops, free journals and various other resources. She’s also the mom of two boys, an avid trail and mountain runner, blogger, and adventure travel writer.

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I'm a book author, homeschool mom of boys, mountain runner and advocate for the homeless. Founder of Write it Out, a homeless recovery program that teaches writers workshops to the homeless and gang members, in order to focus on using the power of words to restore, recover, and rehabilitate. www.escapesuburbia.wordpress.com

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