Conversation – Leadership

“What do you think makes a good leader,” she asked?”

“Why do you ask,” he asked?  “Are you planning to lead something”?

“They asked me to head up the school parent association and I’m not sure I’m the best person for the job,” she said.

“Well, it seems to me that the first quality of leadership is confidence,” he replied.  “You don’t seem to have much confidence in your abilities”.

“I’ve never been the leader,” she answered.   “I’ve always been the worker bee.  I like doing things and helping people out, but I’ve never really been the leader.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” he said.  “You’ve always been the leader around here.  You make plans for all the trips, make all the reservations and follow up on all the details.  I think that makes you a leader.”

“NO, it makes me the worker bee,” she said again.  “Someone else decides what needs to be done, and I do it.  “Do you think that just anyone can be a leader?”

“I do,” he replied,  Do you enjoy being involved in our kids school activities?”

“I love it,” she said.  ” I think there’s nothing more important than to see that the kids get a good education and that the schools have the resources to get that done.”

“Well then,” he said.  “You’ve got the first element of a good leader – – Passion. I think a good leader needs to have passion, and you have it.”

“So, should I do it?” she asked.

“I think you should go for it,” he said.  “Once people see how passionate you are about helping the school, the more they’ll see you as a leader.  All you have to do is ask them to help and you’ll get things done.”

“Will you help me?”

“I don’t know if I’ll have the time,” he said.  “You should probably ask somebody else.”