Before I came to the United States as a fellow, I have been privileged to serve in leadership at different levels including: family, community, social and religious levels I have also been mentoring and coaching as a professional among others. Through out these different stages and periods, I have tried to lead by serving. Having not read of Leader like Martin Luther King until my recent assignment in the Humphrey Seminar, my orientation as a servant leader can be attributed to my traditional family rearing, during which, my parents repeatedly taught me that as the eldest for my siblings, it was my responsibility to take care of them, watch out for them, overlook their offenses, (see myself as the garbage or trash can or fall back pillar for them) almost like a mother figure, etc. And so, coming from a polygamous home, this is how I learned leadership. This concept of leadership will come to be better defined and strongly reinforced, as I became a Christian and study the leadership characteristics of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So as I started serving as a leader outside my family, i have been told throughout my service as a leader in my family, community, among my friends and peers, church and my career, that I have a servant way of leading others that inspire to achieve result.
Now, so far, as a fellow, this characteristic has been further highlighted and a few others honed through out my experience of studying great Leaders of history, like Martin Luther King, Margaret Thatcher, Hubert H. Humphrey among others. The opportunities of listening to experiences of a few contemporary leaders in the media industry and other fields have been inspiring and motivating. Reading books like Tribes and The Righteous Mind among a few have also been challenging.
With all of these under my belt and my passion to be a change agent and contribute to a legacy of a future of a stronger professional woman leadership, I would like to borrow from the inspiring quote of One I now consider a godfather, HHH that, “History teaches us that the great revolutions aren’t started by people who are utterly down and out, without hope and vision. They take place when people begin to live a little better — and when they see how much yet remains to be achieved”.
Hubert H. Humphrey –[Revolutions and Revolutionaries]
Therefore with my passion to lead through service and my vision for a future of stronger professional higher level of woman leadership, purpose, tools, connections, support, and teamwork, I am going to be an Effective Leader by Inspiring, Mentoring, Motivating, Coaching, Teaching to success.
SO FAR, I HAVE HAD AN ENRICHING EXPERIENCE!
