Leadership is defined uniquely by different people, and everyone's "leadership lens" is shaped by the environment around them.
"Be careful the environment you choose for it will shape you; be careful the friends you choose for you will become like them."
-W. Clement Stone
"Leadership is solving problems."
-Colin Powell
"A leader is best when people barely know he exists, when his work is done, his aim fulfilled, they will say: we did it ourselves."
-Lao Tzu
And while many people look up to the people in the media as an example of leadership, I prefer to look at people more fitted to my goals. I like to learn about the people who start non profit organizations and volunteering programs; from my research I found one person who specifically stands out to me (mostly because I love his organization and how it came to be).
His name is James Jackson
Project C.U.R.E founder
He saw a problem in a struggling community and did not hesitate to act. Within 30 days he collected $250,000 worth of medical supplies in his garage to donate to this town; that is initiative.
He taught me that when you see a problem you should try to fix it, without asking "what if". I apply this to my personal life on a daily basis, and I also believe it is an important leadership quality.
Just a little more about Dr. Jackson & Project C.U.R.E:
http://www.projectcure.org/about/history
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mEb1BsolD7k&feature=em-share_video_user
Nice post Martha. It's good that you put some leadership-related posts. My favorite one is the first one. I like it because I believe that most of who we are as leaders comes from our surrounding. James Jackson sounds interesting person. You know? How many people can actually say they raised quarter million dollars for donation?
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