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Sustaining Your Leadership in the Parlor
Volume II, Issue 12
Growing up, I had fond memories of after dinner time in the parlor at my grandparent's farm. It was a time when all gathered would share stories of the day or days past. Several of my uncles would play the guitar and it was then that I was introduced to both the blues and country western music. At that time, I didn't devote much attention to the name or background of the artist...either I liked it or didn't.
I did pay attention to those who were leading this family time. They were my grandparents. They knew when to encourage family members to say more and when to shut them down when they traveled down the wrong lane when conversing or displaying unwanted behavior.
This experience impacted my life significantly. I remember that I always had something funny to express to go along with the substance or experience encountered, which usually included a sound bite or two about a book I had read, feeding the chickens, drinking water out of the spring house, riding my uncle's horse Flicka etc.
I also learned how to interact with a diverse audience (family members-young-older-elders-male-female-educated and not as educated) participating in the parlor event. I looked forward as well to participation because I knew that dessert would follow.
Below are some of the other lessons learned from my parlor experience that you may wish to consider:
1. Sustain comfort that your leadership will be relevant through diverse learning and experiences obtained inside and outside your home, work, classroom or recreation environments
2. Impact larger audiences through effective communication and sharing what you know about them when communicating
3. Respect the opinions of others even when you disagree; also demonstrate your other values when interacting
4. Nurture others to higher levels in their development through coaching
5. Look for hidden messages in what is expressed by peers, colleagues, associates, supervisors, friends and others
6. Keep your leadership out of the backroom and when you are there for a time, let all know what is happening there when you return to quiet the suspicion syndrome among those with whom you are interacting
7. Self-recognize goal attainment or let others recognize you for an accomplishment, especially when others have benefited from your efforts
If you are interested in learning more about keeping your leadership or that of your team parlor ready, Connect with Marilyn West today - consulting@mhwest.com.
