When I started my membership, the Rising Leaders’ Circle, one of my members said to me,
“But Sonia, I’m not really a leader…”
Now this was interesting to me as she’d joined the membership, was getting value and she had people that she was responsible for on projects, even though they weren’t officially her direct reports. What is it that made her believe that she wasn’t a leader?
We had a chat…
And what I found out was that she had an idea of what a leader was, who a leader was that was so far removed from who she was right now that it just didn’t make sense for her. The idea she had of who a leader was and the type of life they would lead, was also something that she didn’t want for herself – so why would she see herself as a leader either now or in the future?
However, there were skills she wanted to get better at:
- Delegation
- Influence
- Managing change
- Communication
- Feedback
- Creating a vision
- Articulating her ambition
- Managing stakeholders
and so many more
So, she stayed. And bit by bit we began to work not only on those skills, but also on a different image of a leader, one that she could create, one that she could step into, one that would allow her to be her best self and continue to develop and learn. One that was true to her values and what she wants in life.
When we last spoke about leadership and being a leader, there was a different response. Now she sees herself as a leader in work and in life, because we all have to lead ourselves if no one else.
The Rising Leaders’ Circle is for leaders at all stages of their leadership journey. It’s a community of people who have decided to step up to leadership or who are on their way. People who want to do leadership their own way. And people who know that they will do better with a community for support as well as a coach.
We’ll be opening the doors again soon to new members, so if you want to be the first to know when, sign up for our waiting list here
What is your definition of a leader? Is it one you can step into? If not, how could we create one that you would step into?
Let me know in the comments. I promise to read every one!
