Inspiration for me comes in so many ways. My horse, life, books I am reading and today the TV show New Amsterdam. (if you haven’t watched it I highly recommend it). In last night’s episode a doctor had a reporter bring up something that happened to him over 10 years ago and his girlfriend/attorney told him to “Own His Story”.
Many years ago, I led in a program in our church called Celebrate the Journey or C the J for short. It was a group of people in recovery, people needing help on their way and others. I led a group for Blended Families. Part of the group was a short worship and teaching time. Often someone would get up and tell their story. I told my story several times during these sessions.
You see owning our story means not only celebrating the good but also acknowledging the bad. Our stories are what make us who we are! However, often we want to skip over the bad parts, ignore them like they simply didn’t happen.
Except they did! Those parts, the good and the bad make us who we are today. They shape us into the leaders we have become. All good leaders have times in their lives that they liked to forget, times where they didn’t live up to their leadership potential.
What would happen if you told your story to your team? I don’t mean share you dirty laundry, but I do mean share those times when your leadership faltered. When you made a decision for yourself instead of your team. Sharing these stories with your team helps them see you as a human and as someone they can relate to.
Today think about something in your leadership past that you aren’t proud of and share that with your team. If you aren’t comfortable with that share it with someone you trust on the team. Getting comfortable with your story is the first step!
Once you are comfortable then share it with your team! You won’t regret it!
Leadership Simplified 