Many among us corporate sisters are born-leaders, and even for those of us who don’t believe in our leadership abilities, we know that cultivating our leadership skills is key to our growth and success in and outside of the corporate life.
Yet when we talk about leadership, very often we think of big worthy causes played out in the media, or of big personalities known the world over. As true as these are certainly representative of great leadership, they are unfortunately very often hard to relate to. The extraordinary leadership of contemporaries such as the Oprahs, the Maya Angelous, the Ursula Burns, the Melissa Harris-Perrys, or the Vanessa Bush of this world, and so many others, is greatly inspiring, but certainly tough acts to follow. Where do we even start?
As my dear grandmother always says: “We begin at the beginning!” And what better beginning than the familiarity of our homes. The place where day-to-day decisions are made, where projects are started and managed, where you juggle as many hats as there are priorities to attend to.
A big corporate sister of mine always argued that “a great career starts at home”. The foundation of all leadership is found in the way we handle the ordinary, mundane aspects of life. It is those same everyday skills that can turn us into great leaders or average followers. Xerox CEO Ursula Burns shared as part of the PBS Makers series that she grew up in a very modest family in the Bronx; yet as she shares the determination and courage of her mother, we can already sense this precious foundation of leadership from the start.
As corporate sisters, we must know that leadership is not the stuff of dreams; that we all have it in us, and that it simply “begins at the beginning”, at home…
Do you think leadership starts at home?
The Corporate Sister.
