It was the end of a ten-week parenting coaching that my wife and I are involved in. I was busy preparing for my talk for the final-day retreat when our seven-year old son came to me and asked, “Daddy, when you are done, could you come and play football with me?”
The immediate answer on my mind was, “Son, I am busy preparing for this parenting retreat. Could we play another day?” Instantly, I felt that my RSVP was brash and totally unwarranted.
I turned to him and said, “Son, let’s go kick some ball!” I accepted his invitation and play we did for about 20 minutes. Then I took some little extra time and taught him a new ball dribbling skill.
He was ecstatic! And guess what? I enjoyed the workout too! It did my heart good to burn a few excess calories. I went back to the speech notes I was writing inspired and with a completely fresh perspective.
At that moment, three lessons were permanently etched in me. Any lingering doubt was expunged forever!
- Leading is a privilege, not a chore. And you don’t have to wait for permission to engage your followers. “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love—then make that day count!” ~Steve Maraboli
- Leadership gives you freedom to act in an authentic way. You don’t have to be pretentious. You become more effective and deliberate in your action. “The truly free man is the one who can turn down an invitation to dinner without giving an excuse.” ~Jules Renard
- Leadership opens new perspectives for you. When you think about how your action makes life more valuable for someone else, then you become intentional. You connect and groove with them. Your life begets meaning beyond self. “Standing on the fringes of life… offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.” ~Stephen Chbosky
Have you received an invitation to lead? Click here and share how you responded to that invitation.
photo credit: Sarah Parrott via photopin cc
Great lessons on taking invitation to lead. I agree leadership opens new perspectives. I have been leading a group of young women discuss ,understand and appreciate the role of woman as a God intended it. Being involved in this has given me new perspectives to my own life and I find I have energy to research and package info for the group. After a 3rd sessions the group discussions were rolling out well and I remember a satisfaction feeling that I had lost touch with. Finally I had found something to impact others positively glory to God for nudging me on that track. We all have something to share to make another person’s life better let’s find it and share freely.
Awesome! We all definitely have something to share. The challenge has always been to become real and vulnerable. I will be opening up ‘The Leadership Safari’ course online in 2015. I highly recommend this course to this group of young women (and yourself).