Making the Leadership Choice

By: Chris W. Bell, Director of Interactive Learning-Leadership Connection

Many times when I am speaking with others about Leadership Connection, people ask me if leadership ability can be developed. My answer is always an emphatic YES!. Most people doubt they can develop their own leadership ability because they hold some false ideas about leadership. As you learn a proper perspective on leadership, you will see the concrete steps you can take to become a better leader.

Leadership itself is the choice to bring all of yourself to a given situation and to be open to and to solicit the best parts of those around you. Inside Leadership Connection, we talk about the concept of bringing all of yourself to a situation when we speak of the Authentic Self. The Authentic Self is you, when you are aware of and in tune with your passions, talents and abilities. As you become clearer on what you are passionate about, and deepen your understanding of how your personality and experience combine to make you unique, you become better equipped to make the choice to lead. You are unique and this uniqueness gives you something to offer and creates your capacity to lead.

The people we think of as great leaders have made making the leadership choice a habit. What Leadership Connection does is to show you a process for developing the same habit. The process we use to help you develop your leadership ability can be broadly stated as:

• Helping uncover the Authentic Self.
• Clarifying the Desired Change you wish to make.
• Structuring your life to create an Alignment of Purpose.
• Teaching tactical Leadership Skills.
• Building groups and increasing Group Efficacy.

Over the next several weeks, we will be engaging you in the Leadership Connection process to help you make the leadership choice a part of your daily life. We will also expose some of the common leadership myths to help you exercise a higher level of influence. Like any good coach, we help you by asking you the right questions to engage you in uncovering the leadership ability you have buried inside yourself. I encourage you to keep a journal to record your responses and reactions to the questions we will ask.

Leadership Connection has many tools to support you as we walk through this process together. You can listen to Kathleen Schafer describe what she has learned in 20 years of helping others develop their leadership abilities in our Conversations with Kathleen podcast. Email your leadership questions to askkathleen@leadershipconnection.net. For more encouragement as you engage this process, check out the leadership tools we offer on the Leadership Connection website or join our conversation on Facebook or Twitter.