I kicked off our Leadership Development Program today, a ten-week program I’ve facilitated since 2016 for emerging leaders at our company. Today was week zero, just an introduction and setting expectations. But for the last couple of years, I’ve had us watch this six-minute Ted Talk together called “Everyday Leadership”. It’s worth your time if you haven’t seen it before:
In the opening Dudley says:
“We have made leadership into something bigger than us; something beyond us. We’ve made it about changing the world. We’ve taken this title of “leader” and treat it as something that one day we’re going to deserve . . . I worry sometimes that we spend so much time celebrating amazing things that hardly anybody can do, that we’ve convinced ourselves those are the only things worth celebrating. We start to devalue the things we can do every day.”
The essence of this talk is my definition of leadership. That we all have unknown impact on each others’ lives. Leadership is not about having a team or a title. It’s not about accolades. It’s about how powerful we are to one another in all these little moments. It’s about positive influence. It’s about being ourselves in a way that empowers others to be themselves.
I’ve probably seen this talk upwards of fifteen times now and it always hits me a little differently. Today it grounded me at the start of this leadership program. I’m always a student right along with them.
With Love,
Natalie