Leadership!  Wow, it’s one of the most talked about phenomenon of the late 20th and early 21st centuries!  It started, I think, with John Maxwell’s classic publication, “The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership!”

I’m not going to try to define leadership here in either the manner of Maxwell or of any other ‘leadership guru’!  For me, leadership is having the qualities and character of someone I want to follow!  Someone whose style and method energizes me to go beyond where I am even though the risk may seem great and the ‘pitfalls’ many!

I want to talk about the “leadership skills of Moms” in today’s conversation.

What, you don’t think you have any?  You’re writing a resume to return to the work world and haven’t any work experience, outside the home, for at least 15 years or more - and “who will want to hire me with this kind of background!”

I can hear it now.  The sighs and moans of regret that having been ‘just a homemaker’ and stay-at-home mom evokes when women seek to return to the marketplace after years of absence only to think they have nothing an employer would want!

I want to focus on the leadership skills of a MOM!  Because it’s just skills that any employer worth working for would be thrilled to have in his or her company!

Let me preface a few remarks on the subject with this:  any woman who has successfully managed a home, a husband and children has leadership skills out the ‘wazoo’!  Chief among them is the ability to multi-task on a continual basis; so much so that she has it down to a fine science!  Any woman who balances the family checkbook, feeds, clothes, launders, organizes, manages and stays ’sane’ in the process has tremendous LEADERSHIP skills!

“Leadership” has less to do with skills and more to do with personality and qualities of character and integrity.  It has to do with our ability to work with others in an encouraging way that builds up and supports the work of others in positive ways.

Ask yourself if the following is true of you:  1) you’re often asked to serve on committees or chair events because those who ask tell you they need your leadership; 2) do younger women tend to populate your circle of close friends and oten ask your advice on a number of varied topics; 3) does it seem that others are drawn to you because of your warmth, personality, character and ability to uplift others around you; and 4) does your family (husband, children, parents and other close relatives) often praise you for who you are and what you do to enrich their lives (they may not say so in words, but in actions and things they say to others about you).  Do your children listen to you - even your ‘pesky’ teenagers who’d rather die than be known to acknowledge that Mom may be right about anything!

If even one or two of the above is common in your life - then you are a leader!  You have what it takes to direct others in a way that invites them to follow you because they trust where you will take them.

What I’ve so often found with folks whose leadership skills and qualities I admire is that they rarely recognize those qualities in themselves.  Leaders seem innately able to take us where we want to go or maybe, more importantly, where we don’t want to go, but are willing because of who is at the head of the pack!

Today’s assignment (hummm, I’ve fallen into my ‘teaching’ trap!) is to write down the qualities you see in others that make them a good leader.  Who do you follow at work, or in organizations of which you are a member?  What sets them apart as a leader, as someone you want to follow or work with or ask for advice or seek their company?

Write down those qualities you see in yourself that makes you a leader.  Ask yourself the questions above to determine your leadership abilities.

And finally, if you’re a MOM, ask your spouse, children and parents how they see you as a leader.   Take their answers seriously and then write them down in your journal.

Who knows, you may need them for that resume or bio you plan to write for the next step in the journey - back into the marketplace or to the next rung on your professional ladder of success!

Have an AWESOME AWP day with much love and many blessings!

  Linda