As a child, I knew I was a leader. How? My grandfather told me. Every holiday my 26 cousins and I would visit my grandfather’s house.

As you can imagine, we could be very loud as we ran around the living room, laughing and playing.

My grandfather would sit in his recliner watching us, while our mothers were in the kitchen. As my cousins and I played, grandfather would remind us to lower our voices. Of course, we would comply for a few minutes and then we would return to our normal, loud, rambunctious selves.

After about the third time of telling us to lower our voices, my grandfather would call out in his I mean business voice “Jackie and Kim lower your voices.”

As I grew older, I asked my grandfather “why did he always pick on Jackie and I?’ My grandfather said, “Kim when you lower your voice, your cousins lower their voice. When you raise your voice, they raise their voices.” My grandfather told me I had influence over my cousins.

What my grandfather was telling me was “Kim, you’re a leader!”

[shareable cite=”Dr. John C. Maxwell”]Leadership is influence, nothing more and nothing less”[/shareable]

Who is a leader? Are you a leader? According to my mentor John Maxwell, the answer is a resounding YES! Why are you a leader? Because you have influence.

What doesn’t help leaders is a lot of misinformation out there making things harder for us. There are a lot of prevailing myths about leadership that do nothing other than steer us in the wrong direction.

Here are 3 myths about leadership you shouldn’t believe:

  1. Being a leader involves shouting: Treat people with respect, even when they’re not listening to reason.
  2. Leaders should be “one of the guys”: Be friendly but try to separate business and pleasure, at least in the work environment.
  3. Being a leader means being bold and brave: Being a leader is not about who you are, it’s about what you do!

[callout]Don’t worry if you don’t think you are a “natural-born” leader.[/callout]

It’s perfectly fine to feel that there are others out there better suited to leadership roles. In fact, few of us see ourselves as being natural-born leaders until we are thrust into the role.

The good news is that most leaders are made rather than born. That means you can develop your leadership skills on the job.

Also, doing your research and dispelling myths about leadership will keep you on the right path.

Were you made or born to be a leader?

Your friend,
Kim

Dr. Kim Moore, guiding YOU to lead with confidence!

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Dr. Kim Moore

About the author

I'm Kim, your Educational Leadership Guide. I equip educational leaders with research-based and experientially learned educational leadership principles and best practices to promote student success.


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