By Christine Cowan-Gascoigne
Leadership. We long for it in our country, in our communities, in our organizations and in our families.
And we blame many of our problems on its absence.
"If only we had better (or more) leaders..." the lament typically begins, as if we had no control
over the situation. Women, especially, tend to feel powerless and to look to others to provide leadership.
In doing research and consulting on leadership issues, I have come to believe that all successful
leadership development begins with personal leadership. If you can't lead yourself, you aren't going to be very effective
leading others.
So, what does it take to put yourself on the path to personal leadership?
1. Realize at all times that you - yes you - can make a substantive difference in this world.
2. Discover what you were meant to do, and then do it. Two
exercises can help you in this discovery.
- Make a list of 100 or more hopes and dreams for yourself. Remember everything you ever wanted to have, do, achieve, become,
see, know, feel or create in your professional, social, family, physical, intellectual and spiritual or ethical development.
Write everything down, even things that seem unrealistic.
- Take the "Tombstone Test." Write what you would like a family member, a lifelong friend and a colleague to
say about you at your funeral.
Use this information to prioritize your hopes and dreams. Then develop and follow an action plan with written, measurable
goals and deadlines.
3. Know that leaders are made, not born. Leadership boils down to four qualities that
anyone can develop.
- Integrity: Honesty is making your words reflect reality. Integrity is making your reality reflect your words. It is living
each moment of your life consistent with your "Tombstone Test."
- Dedication/Vision: A passionate belief in something of value beyond ourselves is key to achieving peak performance in
ourselves and others.
- Magnanimity: Being generous, forgiving aand above resentment requires high self-esteem, an area where women often need
help.
- Openness: Creativity, curiosity and a high tolerance for diversity and change are fundamental leadership traits.
4. Stop believing that you have to be old to be a leader. In fact, there are many similarities
between children and leaders. Both are full of questions, trusting of their instincts, creative, direct, truthful, energetic
and enthusiastic.
In other words, everyone at every age has leadership potential: All you have to do is decide
to use it.
5. Keep "go to hell" money. Never let finances trap you at your job. It threatens your
ability to stay on the path to personal leadership and even can force unethical or illegal behavior. Build a nest-egg of 12
months of your budget so you are free to do what's right.
6. Embrace Ralph Waldo Emerson's definition of success.
-To laugh often and much;
-To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;
-To earn the appreciation
of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends;
-To appreciate beauty, to find the best in others;
-To leave
the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition;
-To know even one life
has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded.
-Put yourself on the path to personal leadership
today and make the world better for all of us.
Cowan-Gascoigne is founder and president of the Leadership Co., a Cleveland consulting firm. She was formerly
head of the corporate development and public affairs division of the Cleveland Clinic and a consultant with McKinsey &
Co.
This article was originally printed in the Women's Work column of the Business section of the Plain
Dealer on Sunday, December 6, 1992.
