We are talking about leadership in the next couple of weeks. Leadership? (Yawn) So overdone. What will our lifestyle coaches possibly say that we haven’t heard, read, studied you may ask? Has there been any ground breaking research that has been done to teach us new things in this area?  My specific problem this week has been to define the concept of leadership and to try and bring something here that will resonate with someone and that can make this writing worthwhile. Well, I have been stuck! Stuck for words, stuck at a function where the Crown Princess of Sweden Victoria – her Excellency, her majesty hell her ‘whatever’ one is supposed to call her when you refer to her. I went to a gala dinner where she was the guest of honour and I did the unthinkable. I walked right past her and her crew not realizing who she is and what I ought to do when I see her. I learnt later that a curtsy would have been appropriate. I hadn’t done this and wondered why I had missed that in the invitation and how I would have felt doing a curtsy. Well good came out of this because it got me thinking on leadership. Questions like are leaders born or made came up? What is a leader and how do you spot one? I thought here is a girl who has leadership bestowed upon her based on when she was born, who she was born to and where she was born. She was only three when the decision was made to make her Crown Princess. How will she ensure that indeed she can pull this off? What pressures does she feel in this role? Does she have the necessary tools to lead? I take it she has/had no time to think or feel anxious about this because it’s just what it is. She is the Crown Princess and that’s it.

This sparked further thought – hey, if I raised my sons to believe and I mean really believe that they are the Princes they are maybe they will just assume the role. Be leaders and not risk being referred to in their school report as a ‘follower’ which at a glance indicates weakness, uninspiring, herd mentality.

How does one become a leader? Or rather how do we ensure we have the qualities necessary to make us leaders? What are the qualities and characteristics?  

When I hear the word I think of many things. Inspiration, power, strength, ego, aggression, drive, forward looking, charisma, Nelson etc.What are some of the things you wonder about in this leadership space? Keep sending through your thoughts because in the next coming weeks we will be thrashing out ideas on this topic. Watch this space as we redefine this concept for ourselves and leave the textbooks, magazines and anything else that has been said. Personal leadership up next.

To your brilliance

Val