US Women Magazine August 2014 Vol 1 Issue 1 | Page 34

Leadership

True Leadership: “A Leader is one who
knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way.”
-John C. Maxwell
One of the greatest quotes on leadership is
from one of my favorite motivational mentors, John C. Maxwell. “A Leader is one who
knows the way, goes the way, and shows the
way.” Developing those leadership skills
can come naturally to some but most people
have to practice. I have always believed
that the first thing you have to do is become
a servant. The greatest and most famous
servant known is Jesus Christ. He took his
disciples and showed them the way to being
more than just a follower but to lead others when He left this earth. How many of
us take the time to show others how to do
a better job or mentor someone in becoming a better citizen? Mentoring and leadership go hand in hand. Many times we think
we have to reach perfection before we even
get started but we don’t. Don’t wait for the
perfect moment in life to do it. Take the moment and make it Perfect. As a leader, many
depend on your knowledge and wisdom
but most importantly people watch you to
see how you respond to different situations.
As leaders, we are tested more than anyone
else and we need to be aware of our actions.
Being prepared as a leader is vital and you
will heavily depend on your communication
skills. Communication is a two way street,
you can think that you are a great communicator but maybe you are just a great speaker

but if no one is listening then the reality is that you
may not be as great as you thought. Communication
also requires a great listener. Listen to your audience.
You have to know that you are reaching even the per-

son who seems the least interested. How many times
do we attend employee meetings and we look around
to see maybe 5 % are truly listening and the others
have been disengaged for a while? Make sure that as
a leader, you keep your team engaged and interested
in your lessons. Mentoring and leadership are challenging. But with the