wanting to get out of bed and falling into the depths of depression. While understanding that when a company met economic hardship there really was no other option, she also believed fervently that everyone deserved hope in their life. She intended to reconnect these people to hope even though she had absolutely no idea how to achieve that. So, she simply took a step, just one step, by picking up her phone and sending an SOS message out to anyone in her phone list. She asked everyone to consider what they may be able to offer that might gift these people hope. She then put down the phone and walked away. Within minutes the messages starting flowing in from consultants, coaches, and trainers, offering free-of-charge motivational talks, webinars, techniques. Rania then set up a timetable and infrastructure from which these people could serve.
Is leadership YOUR business? Research of Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner indicates that everyone can be a leader. It’s not about whether you were born or made, but rather leadership is about ‘what you do with what you have’. Let’s dig further into those words: ‘it’s what you do with what you have’. Whether you have an abundance or lack of resources, both can be used or applied. Let’s drill down into the word ‘resources’, as that often is interpreted as purchasable items. Could resources also be ‘ideas’, those little nudges I call life force that pop into your mind when you least expect them? What do you do with those – jump into action (make that call, read that book, speak to that person) to use those ideas or let them fade away and become forgotten? Could resources also be your personality or behavioral preferences. What do you do with those – use them to their fullest allowing them to bring results for your desired outcomes? Could resource also be the dreams that will offer more hope that the reality you currently face? What do you do with those – see them as something to wait for, or opportunities to take steps towards creating their existence?
Was Rania a leader – you bet! She’s an ordinary person who has made a difference to thousands of people, by taking one step into the unknown because it was just unacceptable any other way. Leadership is indeed everyone’s business, offering them to take that first step or not. That’s where choice comes in. What are you choosing right now regarding the struggle, pain or adversity you are facing? Ask yourself: Am I prepared to accept that this adverse situation right now? This question should facilitate some type of emotional response; ‘listen’ for that. Is there something I could be doing right now to change this situation? The question did not suggest you know what to do, or the required action. Does taking no action feel right for me? The question does not judge you, as you remain at choice here.
Let’s take a practical example where success has come from taking the first step, any step into an unknown because you believe in a change, yet have no idea how to make it happen.
Taking that first step will indeed feel like you are walking in the dark, with little to no knowledge of where the first step will lead nor where the second step will follow. And therein lies the magic; we humans do not need to know, but rather need to trust that the steps
Rania desperately watched on as her company colleagues were handed redundancies in waves of 100’s. It was unacceptable to her to see the damage this caused, seeing people no longer The Source
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