How Your Leadership May Be Inspiring Others

We don't always know who is watching us and sometimes it might be very surprising to know how we are inspiring others. I remember coming home one night to find a letter in my mailbox. It was from a young teenager who had been my client. She stated that she wanted to be just like me when she grew up! Wow! Last year the same young lady contacted me. She was not finishing her studies in order to become a psychologist and stated that I had been her inspiration.

A former school teacher told me that she had used me as an example for a couple who lived down the street from her. She said that this couple tended to complain and not do anything to make their situation better. One teen wrote to me from another province and stated "You were there for me when my family wasn't". A former co-worker told me that she admired the way that I had worked on my academics and completed degrees while working.

Well, before you get too excited, consider the fact that I have had over 7000 clients. Not many people actually come back to tell you that you helped them let alone that you changed their lives. However, you do have a strong influence on many people who will never, ever come back to tell you or thank you. It might be a neighbour, a friend, family member or client.

You need to be very careful for there are eyes and ears where you might least expect them to be. It is sad when I ask people to name their "hero" and get a blank stare. When I grew up there were so many good examples. Now it seems that just when you put your faith in someone, the media gives you all the details of their fall from grace. You find out that they have lied, cheated or been involved with abuse or addiction.

The good news is there isn't much competition out there when it comes to inspiring other people. You can live a good, clean life and not do anything remarkable and still be a great inspiration for the world! You could be the person who they look to in order to do things that they otherwise might not have done. Perhaps, because you have certain values the other person is inspired to hold the same values. They might, for example, make a firm commitment to always tell the truth because they know that you value honesty.

Perhaps you will inspire them to take more education. They might never have completed high school or taken a diploma course without your encouragement and support. Also, you may be the person who inspires them to begin things that they might not have even considered before meeting you. Because you wrote a book, donated to a charity or started a business, they may have the inspiration and example to do the same. They might even take on leadership skills in a certain organization or group because you believed in them that were able to communicate that in a way that inspired them.

Today I challenge you to seriously think about what things you might need to do in order to "clean up your act". Remember, there are a lot of people who are watching and hoping that you will be the one to follow!