Leadership and Speaking Up

I don't recall as I was growing up ever hearing about leadership or certainly learning how to lead. I never had a mentor or someone I could truly look up to for guidance so I made assumptions.

One was about speaking out. I watched business leaders and many were quiet. They didn't speak out about injustices in our world. I'd always been very verbal fighting for myself and others but I assumed if they weren't publicly speaking out then maybe it was because doing so would reflect badly on them. Maybe people would just view them as complainers. So I stopped speaking out. But it was uncomfortable.

I set out on a journey to learn about leadership in hope I could learn to lead like all those business leaders I was watching. During my journey I discovered it's okay to speak out but I should do so with passion not anger. I can raise the heat but manage how high I allow it to get.

I've started speaking up again, with passion not anger. Today I'm still watching business leaders to try and learn from them, but not about speaking up. I still see so many who are quiet. Maybe afraid of the retribution of speaking up. Maybe condemning me for doing so.

Every day I'm trying to learn how to lead so I can make an impact in the lives of others and in my community. I'm trying to wade through the assumptions that a girl who grew up in poverty and trauma makes, while trying to learn how to not just survive, but to thrive and lead.

There's so much to learn along the way.

I share this with you because it's part of my story. If you happen to buy the book, Being Wichita Women, I've written a brief overview of my life story. I'll use that to build upon sharing the things I've learned throughout my journey.

Leadership and speaking out is just one of many things I've learned.