Category: Blogs

What does a leader look like?

When you see someone can you immediately know they are a leader? Do they look different? Do they behave differently? Has your first impression of a person always been correct?

A leader can be short or tall, fat, or thin or anything in between, and skin colour doesn’t matter. If we are going just on looks to determine if someone is a leader, does it matter what they are wearing?

What do the leaders you know have in common?

I encourage you to take a few minutes and think about leaders you know. Identify the similarities and differences. Leaders come to us in many situations home, work, sports, community, politics, religion, school, and social interactions are some we can consider for starters.

As children we probably didn’t think of our parents as leaders, but as we got older, we realize that is exactly what they were and are – they lead us – rightly or wrongly but usually with the best intentions. What qualities do they have that you would consider are needed to be a leader? This is similar to others in our life.

We are all leaders at some times. You can’t go wrong improving your leadership skills. Learn more about Leaders, Followers, and Influencers from my previous blog.

Good and not so good leaders in our lives.

As with most of you I had teachers and bosses who were good leaders, ok leaders, and downright poor leaders. I had leaders who helped me toward my potential. I had leaders who lied and some who put me down. And, I had leaders who were people in leadership roles but didn’t really do anything much of anything. Some people are assigned leadership roles and they don’t want the role or have any idea of what is needed.

What I want in a leader!

I want to step away from how a leader might look and identify behaviours I expect.

How a person looks doesn’t determine what they can and cannot do. A person’s behaviour however, tells us much more about the type of leader they will make.

Get to know the person before you decide if they are a leader and determine what kind of leader they are by their actions and words. How they treat others, how they behave when no one is watching will tell you a lot about the type of person and leader they are.

Leadership is a life-long journey.

Learning and developing leadership skills is a never-ending process. I expect a leader to always be learning and encouraging others to learn. Don Clark’s web site is one I have often referred to for leadership information. It is nicely broken down into short bits that are quick and easy to read. A coach, a guide, and a mentor are terms I expect to be part of a leader’s qualities. What do you think?

I receive emails, Facebook notices, LinkedIn information on numerous courses and programs to attract high-paying clients. I have even taken one course. That course was highly valuable. The only problem is that I don’t want to attract only high-paying clients. There is nothing wrong with getting high-paying clients, in fact, if coaching is your full-time job, it is probably a good idea. However, I am retired, I don’t want to work full-time. I also want to make coaching services available to people who cannot afford the thousands of dollars often associated with receiving coaching.

Why would I want to do this when I can potentially make much more money? Several reasons: 1) I want my services to be available to everyone, 2) I value myself but I don’t believe that has to be attached to dollars, 3) Everyone deserves to be their very best and that usually means they need some sort of guidance, 3) I don’t want to have to work that hard, I am retired and full-time work is not for me, and 4) I don’t like making cold calls. I’m a retired RN, both my master’s and doctoral degrees are in leadership (Master of Health in Leadership Studies, and Doctor of Management in Organizational Leadership), can you guess where my interests lie? I like to help people.

How do you define wealth and success? I don’t equate success and wealth with money. I am highly successful and wealthy. My success is because I have a beautiful family, a home, I’m retired from a job I loved (nursing), I have returned to school many times and have enjoyed it. My wealth is similar, it is my beautiful family, my dog, my home, jobs I have enjoyed or loved, I am alive, and in remission from cancer, I feel good about myself – most of the time. There is more I could add to these lists, but these are the first ones to come to mind.

I have been fortunate to have had support for all that I do. I haven’t always had that, but I have for most of my life. I have not become successful and wealthy (not monetarily) on my own. I have had a wonderful education, mentors, coaches, family, and friends who have helped me along the way. I am also an avid reader and have read oodles of self-help books over the years. At 71-years I am still learning, and I love sharing what I learn.

Some of the greatest support I am receiving right now is from HeartMath^®. I am putting together an online course and HeartMath^® people and information has been invaluable. I am a Certified HeartMath^® Trainer so I am fortunate to have access to incredible people and information. I also belong to numerous groups which provide me with information and support. My husband is a constant support in all that I do. Numerous friends also help me, especially now as I run programs by them for feedback. I believe everyone deserves access to support, coaching, mentoring, and information, and these things should not be only for the financially wealthy. I also believe that those who work shifts, have more than one job, are unemployed or underemployed, or who have chosen to not work at a paying job also deserve access to these same things.

Am I underselling myself? You can decide that for yourself. If a financially growing company wants to hire me, I will expect to be paid accordingly. If individuals are financially wealthy, they also will be expected to pay accordingly. One thing to remember, my wealth does not rely on dollars. Seeing others become satisfied with their life, learning, being in control of their emotions, improving their health (mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual), and living the life of their dreams is incredibly rewarding. If I can be successful, wealthy, and happy without the huge income I can offer my services to everyone, regardless of what they can pay.

I haven’t found an ideal way to advertise my wide variety of pricing, but I believe this is my start. I have some ideas for advertising and will be getting started with putting those on my website soon, some wordsmithing is in order.

How do you define your success and wealth?

If I can be of service get in contact drelaine@drelaineleadership.coach, www.leadnurses.

I am at your service.