What is Leadership…
Leadership is the art of bringing out the best and highest potential in those that we guide, mentor, coach, and direct through compassion and inspiration. There are literally thousands and thousands of resources for developing leadership. Management books, personal development tapes, seminars, organizational programs, e-books, online courses… the list goes on and on. Here at Wiser Everyday we’ve combed those resources and interviewed today’s leaders and paired that with our life experiences to offer interactive programs and resources to develop your leadership abilities with focus on personal and professional vision, balance and mindfulness.
To get you started, set aside just 2-5 minutes right now…
First, find a comfortable spot to sit, place your feet on the ground and sit up straight. Close your eyes. Take three deep breaths. Now that you’ve tapped into this moment, take yourself through a little journey. Think about yourself as a child, who you played with and who you admired. Think about your early role-models… perhaps your older brother or sister, your mom or your favorite teacher. Remember what it was like to be in their presence… How they made you feel. Think of a few words to describe the emotions you are feeling when you remember these people and this time. Let’s take this journey to your teen years… and all the activities you tried or read about. Things that inspired your curiosity, your creativity: Your favorite books, realizing that you can draw or play the guitar, trying out for a school play, playing soccer or surfing… the variety of activities that you explored or wanted to explore. Why were you curious about these opportunities? Think about the feelings that you had about each new venture. You wanted to try new things, right? You explored and were fearless. You could take on most any challenge. Now let’s think about our late teens and early 20’s. Who did you look up to? Who helped you along the way? How did the people you met help shape you into who you are today or, who you want to be? Remember being in that person’s presence. How did you feel? Now open your eyes and write down every descriptive word that comes to mind about how you felt while walking through your life. How do you feel right now?
In just this short amount of time, you’ve taken a crucial first step to defining your vision in a mindful way to further develop your leadership abilities. Individuals and organizations that work with Wiser Everyday learn how to incorporate their values to develop authenticity, integrity and resilience. Identifying experiences that brought out the best in you is a key tool to developing your authentic self which allows you to work with integrity and will groom your resilience. Exercises like these form the foundation for the development of leaders with AIR: Authenticity, Integrity & Resilience.
Leadership is bringing out the best and highest potential in those that we guide, mentor, coach, and direct with compassion and through inspiration.