Welcome to the Emerging Leader
This holiday edition highlights two humble servant leaders who have made it to the top by putting others first: Jose Altuve and Cheryl Bachelder. If you are looking for a last minute gift for an Emerging Leader on your list, read on, we've got you covered there as well.
What we've been reading
Warren Buffet would always be on my list of people with whom I'd like to have lunch. I would fill up a yellow legal pad with his wisdom. In this short read, he asks students to pick the classmate they would choose if they could have 10% of their earnings for the rest of their life. He then asks them who they think is least likely to succeed? The answers reveal his 3 must-have personal attributes.  (Farnhamstreetblog.com)

Our students recently created a business to design and sell stickers called Sister Sticks. They wanted to sell stickers throughout Houston, but were new to the business world and knew nothing about making stickers. So they took it slow by learning how to design, order, and sell inside the school first. Jim Collins , the author of so many great leadership classics, calls this "shooting bullets." Bullets are cheap and easy to fire. Eventually with the right experience, motivation, and plan, the class could go all in and fire a cannonball to scale up to create a sticker empire! (Leadershipfreak.blog))

Here are two of our favorite, not boring at all, leadership books for the emerging leader. Both are fun parables - one about penguins, the other, mice. They make a perfect stocking stuffer. Give the gift of leadership!
What we've been watching

"The Power of Humility" with Jose Altuve (1:10)

The Astros 2nd basemen sits on top of the baseball world - MVP and a World Series trophy. Despite all his on field success, he always praises others and downplays his accomplishments. Here's a window into the humble beginnings of this authentic leader.

"Humbly Serve" with Cheryl Bachelder (1:44)

Ms. Bachelder, as CEO of Popeye's Chicken, implemented servant leader principles up and down the entire company. The result? In her 7 years the stock price quadrupled . Great servant leadership pays off and Cheryl always models the way!
What we've been thinking
As a teacher of primarily underclassman girls, I see my students grappling with questions about where they fit in and what value and worth they have. While I would love to say this is a brief phase, as Sheryl Sandberg highlighted in her influential 2013 book Lean In , these self-confidence issues plague many women well into adulthood. These insecurities affect the mental health, career, and personal successes of women, leading them to self advocate or “sit at the table” less frequently than men. Additionally, any failure, however minor, is seen as proof of what they have always known–that they are not good enough.

We live in an age in which technology provides us with instant gratification and the ability to tune out negative emotions through Netflix binges and mindless social media scrolling. As Mr K. wrote about in the last issue, we also live in an age in which GPA inflation means students often expect straight As. How then, can we encourage young women to develop the perseverance and patience to take pride in the day to day journey? How can we help them to see failure or even a B as a necessary part of a journey to success instead of the end of the road?

In the Ted Talk “Teach Girls Bravery, Not Perfection (12:39),” Reshma Saujani describes her own struggles with accepting, embracing, and even pursuing failure. She highlights the importance of helping young women break free of the paralyzing effects of perfectionism by teaching them to be unafraid of failure. This is a talk we watch in Leading with Character, and one that prompts the question: how can we help the young women we teach, mentor, and parent to be brave in the face of adversity?

- Ms. Q
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Leaders   are always looking for inspiring content to grow their ability to lead and serve.  That's why the Leadership Department of Incarnate Word Academy created this monthly e-newsletter, The Emerging Leader . Our promise is to assist your leadership journey by providing indispensable professional and leadership development content that only requires 30 minutes. Make it a monthly habit!
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