Today, we celebrate International Women’s Day. International Women’s Day is a day dedicated to celebrating the cultural, economic, political, and social achievements of women. As a female business owner, professor, author, business coach, public speaker, daughter, and wife, today I reflected on my own journey.
As I reflected on my life, I thought about all my experiences good and bad. I acknowledge the journey has not been easy. I have overcome adversity, negative people, and others trying to hold me back. I realized that my focus, commitment, and determination to my dreams has allowed me to press forward. Therefore, my message to my sisters, is to never give up on yourself. Recognize your value and continue to push forward towards your purpose.
Today, as we celebrate International Women’s Day, give thanks to those who have created a pathway for us to follow. However, take a moment to celebrate and honor yourself. Use this moment in time and determine what trail you will create for others to follow. Please enjoy this video in your honor.
Today, in celebration of Black History Month, I want to talk about Authentic leadership. Authentic leadership is often considered a process, approach, or style. By definition, Authentic leaders are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, transparent, future oriented and focused on developing others to become leaders. They lead with their core values and have courage and self-discipline. They understand the importance for establishing trusting relationships and they are driven by a purpose.
South Africa was ruled by a white minority government for almost two centuries, while blacks made up over 75 percent of the population. Nelson Mandela, tapping into the frustrations of his people, began to focus on overturning the prevailing domination. On trial in South Africa, he said “I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the idea of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an idea I hope to live for and to achieve. But if need be, it is an idea for which I am prepared to die.”
He was sentenced to life in prison. Throughout his imprisonment he rejected offers to be released. He would ultimately be released from prison on February 11, 1990. After being released, he got involved in the political process to end white minority rule and was elected ANC President in 1991. Nelson Mandela, would vote for the first time on April 27, 1994. He never wavered in his cry for democracy, equality and learning, despite his experiences. He is an inspiration for all who have been oppressed and deprived. He remained authentic to his values and purpose. Please visit https://www.nelsonmandela.org/content/page/biography to learn more about his life.
Authentic leadership is important, when you look at the impact you have in your home, workplace, school, church, etc. Followers take a look at your words and your values. They want to see if your talk matches your walk. As you think about yourself today, determine the authenticity of your leadership, and evaluate how that impacts your organization or those you have influence over.
If you are struggling today with vision or identifying your purpose, I end this post with this quote, “Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times, I fell down and got back up again” – Nelson Mandala. Sometimes when we experience adversity, it is preparing us for greatness. Therefore, “fall forward your purpose is waiting for you.” – Dr. Regina Banks-Hall.
Please visit http://www.rbankshall.com to learn more about our leadership development programs. Let’s make 2019 a banner year for leadership.
Leadership is a fascinating subject that influences every aspect of the human experience. We all can identify good leaders, bad leaders, and people in between. Over the next few months, I will be focusing on the impact of leadership, leadership styles, and why leadership is so important in our homes, organizations, schools, churches, and the community. In a previous blog post, I asked if you were a ruler, teacher, or hero when identifying your influence as a leader. Today, I begin this conversation talking about Servant Leadership. Robert Greenleaf, coined the phrase, Servant Leadership based on a philosophy that a leader is called to serve first. Servant leaders place the needs of their followers first, over their own self-interests. They are also concerned with the development of their followers.
For the servant leader, the leader is a servant first, and that attitude of service becomes the secret to their greatness. Servant leadership can be used effectively in so many diverse areas because the leader empowers their followers to develop to their full capacities. I think Winston Churchill successfully, introduced the spirt of servant leadership when he said, “We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give”.
Here are 10 characteristics in Robert Greenleaf’s writings that are central to servant leadership
1. Listening – Communicate by listening and acknowledge the point of view of followers
2. Empathy – Understand what followers are thinking and feeling
3. Healing – Care about and help to heal your followers
4. Awareness – Be attentive and responsive to their surroundings
5. Persuasion – Be able to convince others to change, by using kind nonjudgmental arguments
6. Conceptualization – See the big picture in your organization, church, home or school. This will allow you to visualize and provide direction solving complex issues
7. Foresight – Anticipate the future and the consequences of your behavior
8. Stewardship – Take responsibility for your role when managing people considering the greater good of society
9. Commitment – Commit yourself to helping followers grow personally and professionally
10. The building of a community – Build communities in organizations, churches, schools, and homes, by making people feel safe and connected, while still being able to express their own unique individuality.
As you can see servant leadership is a philosophy associated to a particular style of leadership. Every leader has to determine their style of leadership. As you evaluate your servant leadership potential, know that servant leadership works best when leaders are interested in helping others. The impact of these efforts cannot be viewed as a short-term fix. The results of true servant leadership is recognized over the long haul, but produces a lifetime and meaningful impact for the leader and those that follow.
Dr. Regina Banks-Hall
Breakthrough and Build Your Dreams 4-week Virtual Workshop, February 24th – March 17th
Join Dr. Regina Banks-Hall, for a 4-week virtual workshop where she provides solutions so you can breakthrough issues, challenges, negativity, and fear and build your dreams. You will gain clarity and insight as it relates to your vision. This virtual workshop begins on February 24th, and will meet for 4 weeks. The cost includes the book and workbook. It’s time to move forward. To learn more about the workshop, click on the link below.
We have all heard the phrase “make it count” but do we really know what it means. When you hear the words make it count, you might be thinking that you should make your life count for something, focus on the positive and live each day to the fullest. All of those phrases are true. However, I want to offer a different perspective on making it count.
When I hear the words “make it count” I focus on three key areas, which are, resources, time and opportunity. When I think about resources, I want you to focus on the people that exist within your inner circle, and the talent and skills that you possess that support your goals. Also, I want you to focus on the excitement and passion that you receive from helping others and the motivation that comes from making your life count.
When you think about time, I want you to make sure you are not wasting time, but maximizing every moment. When you maximize your time, you can focus on your goals, time with family, time for business, work or school, and time for serious self reflection. You recognize the importance of time management, and you prioritize your tasks wisely. Also, you recognize the need to volunteer your time to meaningful and purposeful pursuits and not wasteful meanderings. The reason why I am hammering this point home is becuase, time is a precious commodity. Understanding this fact, we should all examine how we spend our time as it relates to achieving our goals, and maximizing our living. My mind goes to a famous quote, which states, “Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that’s the stuff life is made of.”- Benjamin Franklin.
Finally, I think about opportunity, and its relationship to preparation. Opportunity allows you to do something. The key to taking advantage of opportunity, is the preparation that takes place beforehand. Therefore, as you think about the goals you want to achieve, ask yourself this question. How am I preparing for my opportunities? For example, if you own your own business, what is the elevator pitch that you will give when you run into a perspective client? If you are looking for a new job, how can you define your skills, when asked by an interviewer. If you are a minister, waiting to preach your next sermon, are you ready?
My mind goes to the workshops and courses I teach on leadership, human resources management, small business administration and leadership. Without preparation, I would not be able to deliver training at the highest level, or at any given moment. I had to prepare myself to take advantage of these opportunities.
As you navigate this year, I want you to focus on “making it count” by examining your resources, your time, and your opportunities. When you maximize these three areas, you are opening the door to maximizing your living and “making it count.”
As we say goodbye to 2018 and look forward to the coming year, I believe it is important to get off to a good start and then finish strong. My strong finish to this year is the launch of my new podcast: Maximizing Your Life with Dr. Regina Banks-Hall. This is truly a dream come true.
Please enjoy my first interview with Author, and thriving Entrepreneur, Mr. Michael Hall, as we talk about his new book “The Hamster Wheel.”
Dr. Regina Banks-Hall, DBA, SHRM-CP 