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Leadership Starts with Self-Care

  • Posted on Aug 30, 2023

In 1970, Robert K. Greenleaf coined the term โ€œServant Leadershipโ€. He explained,

โ€œ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก-๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘กโ€ฆ ๐ผ๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘”๐‘–๐‘›๐‘  ๐‘ค๐‘–๐‘กโ„Ž ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘“๐‘’๐‘’๐‘™๐‘–๐‘›๐‘” ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ค๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก๐‘  ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘’, ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก. ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘ข๐‘  ๐‘โ„Ž๐‘œ๐‘–๐‘๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘  ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘. ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘œ๐‘› ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘๐‘™๐‘ฆ ๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘“๐‘“๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘›๐‘ก ๐‘“๐‘Ÿ๐‘œ๐‘š ๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘’ ๐‘คโ„Ž๐‘œ ๐‘–๐‘  ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก, ๐‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘  ๐‘๐‘’๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘›๐‘’๐‘’๐‘‘ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ž๐‘”๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘ข๐‘›๐‘ข๐‘ ๐‘ข๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘Ÿ ๐‘‘๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘ฃ๐‘’ ๐‘œ๐‘Ÿ ๐‘ก๐‘œ ๐‘Ž๐‘๐‘ž๐‘ข๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘Ž๐‘™ ๐‘๐‘œ๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘ ๐‘ ๐‘–๐‘œ๐‘›๐‘ โ€ฆ๐‘‡โ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘™๐‘’๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘’๐‘Ÿ-๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘ ๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘ก-๐‘“๐‘–๐‘Ÿ๐‘ ๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘ค๐‘œ ๐‘’๐‘ฅ๐‘ก๐‘Ÿ๐‘’๐‘š๐‘’ ๐‘ก๐‘ฆ๐‘๐‘’๐‘ . ๐ต๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ค๐‘’๐‘’๐‘› ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘š ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘ โ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘‘๐‘–๐‘›๐‘”๐‘  ๐‘Ž๐‘›๐‘‘ ๐‘๐‘™๐‘’๐‘›๐‘‘๐‘  ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘Ž๐‘ก ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘’ ๐‘๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘ก ๐‘œ๐‘“ ๐‘กโ„Ž๐‘’ ๐‘–๐‘›๐‘“๐‘–๐‘›๐‘–๐‘ก๐‘’ ๐‘ฃ๐‘Ž๐‘Ÿ๐‘–๐‘’๐‘ก๐‘ฆ ๐‘œ๐‘“ โ„Ž๐‘ข๐‘š๐‘Ž๐‘› ๐‘›๐‘Ž๐‘ก๐‘ข๐‘Ÿ๐‘’.โ€

๐Ÿชด I started my leadership journey in High school where I was the first black (of any gender) Executive Officer (aka 2nd in command) of my schoolโ€™s Jr. Navy ROTC unit. I was sent to a grueling week of leadership academy in Norfolk, VA to help prepare for my new role. I had amazing teaching Instructors who helped me find my leadership voice and taught me how to model the way with my peers.

I didnโ€™t start out identifying as a servant leader, though. I didnโ€™t even know that term existed! Itโ€™s taken me over 20 years to get to where I am today, and Iโ€™m still not finished growing.

For example, thereโ€™s a common saying that leadership starts with leading yourself, but Iโ€™ve found that not to be the whole story.

๐ŸŒบ Leadership also starts with self-care and giving yourself grace when you make human mistakes. This helps with the ability to fail forward and learn regardless of the outcome.

Iโ€™ve found that once I learned to deliberately self-care and give myself grace to make mistakes and learn, I was able to support an environment where those I led could do the same.

When those we serve are supported in their well-being and feel encouraged in good times and during challenge, everyone wins.

๐ŸŒบ ๐—ง๐—ต๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐˜‚๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ถ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐—น๐—น ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ฒ ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ด๐—ผ. ๐—œ๐˜โ€™๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—น๐—น-๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐˜€ ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐˜€๐—ถ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐—ฐ๐—ฒ.

Read on LinkedIn HERE.

#leadership

#HR

#personaldevelopment

#lovecareerfreedom

***

๐Ÿ’œ ๐—œ ๐—ฎ๐—บ ๐—˜๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜† ๐—–. ๐—ฃ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ฒ

๐Ÿ”‘ Providing HR consulting, podcast + special event speaking, facilitation, training, and heart-centered outplacement services for progressive nonprofits, liberal higherEd, and inclusive federal agencies.

โ˜… Helping LGBTQ+ and BIPOC folks leverage their career

for joy and financial freedom via my #lovecareerfreedom and #loveremotefreedom career

consulting programs

๐Ÿ” Follow me on LinkedIn

๐ŸŒธโ–บSchedule a consultation for HR & Advisory services:
https://tinyurl.com/mryysekw

๐ŸŒธโ–บSchedule a free career strategy chat about your individual goals:
https://tinyurl.com/2zkupvme