True leadership in the community is about doing good by letting others see how to be good. The majority of it is setting a good example by treating others with respect, doing the most you can to help other people, and being a good influence on others. In order to be a positive leader one must set by example and it must be an exceptional one.
Many people do not know how to start when they want change, so having a strong community leader to turn to who can advise and support them can be their most important resource. Even if they don’t actually turn to community leaders for help, just having a positive role model can inspire confidence.
For example, if a group wanted to inspire people in a certain community to aim for higher levels of education, they could provide information on different schools, scholarships, funding, and career paths, as well as help match individuals to schools and coach them through the application process.
This would result in people who maybe thought that they couldn’t go to school, or didn’t know how to get started, at least explore their options. Even if someone had never thought of going to college, just planting the idea and having assistance readily available can have an impact.
The general idea is that if people have leaders, role models, and assistance close to home and readily available, there is a much greater chance that they will seek and effect change in their lives.
This blog article is a branch out to life-optimizing readers like yourself that were kind enough to do a little question and answer interview survey with me. I’m still working on my interview skills (and some of these were done via email/not-in-person!), but I do promise good, raw, and honest answers from normal people like you and me. I do my best to NOT filter these answers, except for the bad words and hateful speech (which doesn’t happen often).
Topic of Interest: Positive Leadership in the Community
‘R’ = Richard N. Stephenson (me!)
‘I’ = Interviewee (anonymous by request unless otherwise noted)
R: Give an example of positive leadership in the community that has inspired you (from either internet/mainstream media examples or personal examples).
I: A personal example is the mayor of my hometown. He is a man that does not take no for an answer, does not give up, and works hard for what he wants. This leadership inspires me to also work hard for what I want, and realize that if I want something bad enough then I can get it.
R: How do you think a better understanding of positive leadership in the community would help other people in their personal or professional life?
I: I think a better understanding of it could help people in their personal life because they know how it is to trust their instinct. They would be used to giving insight to other people. Because of that they will now feel confident in themselves when they have personal situations to make decisions about. Confidence is one of the best main aspects of someone. Through positive leadership comes confidence. I think it would affect someone’s professional life even greater than their personal life because it would get them ahead of the game. It would give them that boost in the work place that would then make them even more confident in their personal life.
R: Give an example of how positive leadership in the community has helped you professionally or personally.
I: Positive leadership has inspired me that the situation I have to deal with isn’t as terrible as it would first seem. When there are positive people that help you deal with things that you would ordinarily hate, they make all the difference in you outlook and character. Someone that takes control of the situation and helps to lead the community while being modest and kind has always inspired me to work harder than a leader who curses or demeans others.
R: Describe at least one way you think positive leadership in the community could cause trouble or hurt someone in their personal or professional life.
I: A leader in the community may have an idea to clean up the area increasing property value. This benefits many members of the community. There are some people that cannot afford the new property taxes now that value has gone up.
R: Give an example of how positive leadership in the community has hurt you or caused you trouble in the past.
I: In general, someone being a leader in our small town should not cause difficulties. However, there is a man who built a new warming house for ice skaters in the park by my home. This increased the use of the park. Before that the park was not used very often, so in winter I had the park all to myself. I do not want to be selfish, but the thing I love most about the park is seeing the deer. More people using the park mean the deer are not seen as often, as you must be quiet and very still to see them.
R: How do you think positive leadership in the community could help you in a professional setting? Why is that?
I: It would be a change in this community if we had someone who was positive. In a professional setting, it would help alleviate everyone coming to me asking questions and expecting answers that I can’t give them. I’m a church member in this community of only 900 and I’m the “go to” guy if the correct council member is able to answer a specific question that someone is asking. If someone else stepped up to the plate, I feel that I could get more of my work done that I’m supposed to do in this community.
R: Give an example of how positive leadership in the community could be useful at work. Why do you think this?
I: If there is a positive leader in the community, you can use the leadership as a model. The leadership skills used in the community is similar to those used in the workplace. There are a lot of similarities between community and work,.
R: How do you think positive leadership in the community could help you at home? Why is that?
I: Having community recourses and leadership can help me too feel not so alone in the world. They say it takes a village to raise and child and i believe it take a community to raise a country. Having community support outside the home will give me hope for my life inside the home by providing me with the structure that is so important to function in today’s world.
R: Give an example of how positive leadership in the community could be useful at home or in family life. Why do you think this?
I: Leadership could set a good role model example for others. It could teach families the meaning of hard work and persistence, and encourage children to work hard. Positive leader ship would also help that person use those skills in their home life to better their family and selves.
R: How do you think positive leadership in the community could help you in a personal relationship? Why is that?
I: Being able to lead is hot. One will gain attraction from his ability to lead. That is what gets girls horny.
R: Give an example of how positive leadership in the community could be useful in a personal relationship. Why do you think this?
I: Knowing how to guide and direct a group of people would definitely translate well to a single person. Since you would need to learn how to express leadership around a single person and then move on to a community. The relationship would definitely prosper from this ability.
R: Describe at least one thing you would like to learn more about positive leadership in the community.
I: How do we cultivate the qualities that make a good leader? What are these qualities? Aristotle said excellence a repeated behavior and so genius is a habit. It seems this is why his teachers made it such a point to highlight out Virtue is its own reward. To be patient doesn’t pay out some sort of reward later you are being rewarded by being patient. The opposite is being agitated or anger and this can be seen as a punishment in the present as well as virtue is a reward in the present.
R: Give your number one piece of advice for someone looking to learn more about positive leadership in the community.
I: I think in order to be a positive leader you have to enforce positivity. your whole demeanor has to be positive. Another great quality leaders have is the ability to impact people.
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How was that for a nice little journey into this topic? I hope you enjoyed this interview and found at least one useful bit of information you can immediately begin to apply in your life. Yes, homework is never seen as a nice word, but it’s useful – give yourself an action to use at least 1 thing from this article to help change your life.
Please share your thoughts, experiences, or your own interview answers and let’s share some real life wisdom, okay?