“If women would realize what an influence they have, they would
be filled with pride. If men recognized how influential women are, they
would be scared to death.”
It is said that we all influence at least 250 people in our lifetime. We each have the responsibility of leadership.
Every woman can be a leader. Yet results of surveys show that most women greatly underestimate their influence.
At home it can be organizing our children to clean the house or, more
important, instilling values and morals into their lives. At the
workplace, it can be motivating people for sales.
We influence others by what we say and do and by how we do our work.
We recognize that Mother Teresa was one of the great religious and
humanitarian leaders of the world. When we aspire to be leaders, we must
learn to discern between fame and greatness. Fame is Madonna; greatness
is Mother Teresa. There is a tremendous shortage of and need for truly
great leaders–leaders who are trustworthy, ethical, good, honest and who
have high personal standards. The world is looking for honest and
upright leaders.
Thankfully there are more women in leadership now than when I first
began taking on leadership responsibilities. Being in leadership roles
for more than thirty years with greater and lesser responsibilities I
have learned a great deal about good leadership. What is a leader? “A
leader is a person who influences people to accomplish a purpose.” How
do you become a leader? “A leader correctly assesses a situation and
knows how to take the next step.”
Whether you know it or not, whether you believe it or not, you’re a
leader an influencer. Your opinions are listened to and acted upon.
The following nine principles will help you make the most of your influence:
1. Have a dream that will leave this world a better place
“Is there anything worse then being blind? Yes! The most pathetic
person in the whole world is someone who has sight but has no vision.”
So said Helen Keller.
Leadership is simply the ability to turn a dream or a vision of a
desired future state into a reality with and through the cooperation of
other people. To throw your life into something worthwhile, your dream
must be worth dying for.
What do you get excited about?
Have a big vision; something beyond your capabilities to keep you
challenged. If we have aimed our efforts for this moment only for
ourselves, for the accumulation of material things, for pleasure we will
soon become dissatisfied and disillusioned with life. Former British
Prime Minster Margaret Thatcher said, “There is little hope for
democracy if the hearts of men and women cannot be touched by a call to
something greater than themselves.”
Have a dream and vision that is greater then yourself one that will leave this world a better place.
2. Know what your strengths are
To be leaders, we need each other to reach our goals. Each of us has
only some of the skills needed to do a great job. We need to surround
ourselves with people to fill in our gaps. Seventy nine year old Muriel
Tower, an experienced entrepreneur, said, “You get things done through
other people. Number one in business is get the best person for the job.
Number two, delegate. Number three, supervise go back and see that they
did it.”
In order to be effective, you need a team to work with. We lead on the basis of our strengths; we gather our team on the basis of their strengths.
What is your leadership style? Are you a visionary? A person who can
see the big picture and take risks? Or are you a detail person an
administrative type? You see the need for systems and order. You do
things right and at the right time. You are efficient. Perhaps you are
more of a sales person a people gatherer. You love people and can sell
anything to anyone, but don’t care about details. Or maybe you just love
working by yourself. A hard worker a producer. Let someone give you a
track to run on and you’ll do it.
Before you are thirty years old, you can probably do all of those
jobs without too much difficulty. But once you are over thirty, you
realize you don’t want to do the things you aren’t good at. It uses up
too much energy. When you know what you are good at, surround yourself
with a team who are good at the other three.
When you have that team, meet with them regularly and have a purpose statement that you work toward.
Review it often with your staff so you don’t lose your focus. Set short
and long term goals, and evaluate two or three times a year to see how
you are doing. Your team will be motivated toward reaching your goals
together. Give credit where credit is due. Say “thank you” to the people
you are working with. Encourage them often!
Understanding your strengths and the strengths of others is a key to effective leadership.
3. Strive for excellence
The people you want to influence will not rise to a higher standard of excellence than what they observe in you. The
authors of Megatrends for Women write, “Male or female, the effective
leader wins commitment by setting an example of excellence.”
We were hosting a dinner for influential women in three cities with a
well known, successful speaker. Of course we were eager to make a good
impression, so we spent hours wording the invitations. However, when
they were printed and we looked them over, we discovered to our
dismay that the logo for our organization was printed upside down. It
was a costly oversight.
After much discussion, we decided to reprint them even though we knew
that the majority of the women would not even notice the mistake.
We wanted to influence leaders and we had to do things right, not only do the right things. Leaders must strive for excellence.
Strive for excellence and you will motivate others to do the same.
4. Be persistent
Mother Teresa was a determined woman. Margaret Thatcher was a determined woman.
The key to being a good leader is endurance being a non quitter. You
will be tempted to quit and be encouraged to quit by those who are
friends and enemies. Be unwilling to throw in the towel. Be determined.
One journalist wrote of Mother Teresa: “When I met Mother Teresa, I
discovered she was very tiny less than five feet tall and kept her head
cocked to one side. She had gnarled hands and thick peasant feet that
protruded from under her coarse white sari. Although there was no
mistaking the aura of warmth and kindness that surrounded her, I felt I
was in the presence of the most powerful, focussed and determined person
I had ever met.”
According to a survey done by Deloitte and Touche, senior women
executives rated Determination and Perseverance as the number one
essential qualities for Women’s success in business. In order to leave
this world a different place, you have to be persistent. Leaders don’t
grow in a comfort zone. Leaders are not people with exceptional talent;
they are people who have learned from their mistakes and get up and try
again.
Persistence is a key to effective leadership.
5. Be willing to stand alone
If you have a passion, a dream or a mission,
set measurable goals and work toward accomplishing them. You will find that many times you may have to work alone. You will probably be lonely.
People are looking for leaders who are willing to give it all they
have, and they will follow for a while. However, when the going gets
tough, when pleasure and comfort compete with responsibility and long
hours, followers will drop away. That is when you have to be sure that
what you are doing is right, so that you will keep going.
James Cook said, “A person who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd.”
6. Be ready for resistance
One of the facts of life is that
when you are in leadership, you have to solve problems.
Pastor Lloyd Ogilvie, for many years the senior pastor at First
Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, California and now Chaplain of the
U.S. Senate, once observed that “Everyone has problems; if you don’t
have any now, you will have problems; wherever you work or live, you’ll
have problems; or you just might be someone else’s problem.”
Sometimes we have the faulty notion that we should be able to go
through life problem free that if we have problems, something is wrong
with our life.
As leaders, we have to be responsible, no matter how painful it is. Running away is not an option.
We can easily fall into waiting for someone else to solve our
problems. In her book, The Cinderella Complex, Colette Dowling writes
about waiting for Prince Charming: “Like Cinderella, women today are
still waiting for something external to transform their lives. We may
venture out a little, but underneath lurks a wish to be saved, a deep
yearning for dependence.”
You don’t need to wait for someone else’s help. You will have
problems. Be ready. Expect it. If you know you are doing what is right,
you won’t cave in when the going gets tough.
Facing problems and dealing with them by making good decisions is the difference between a leader and a follower.
7. Set an example for your staff
“Work hard and become a leader; be lazy and never succeed.”
I am amazed at how often people want a position, but not the
responsibility. It is natural to want to escape responsibility; we all
do it. However, being a leader means working long hours. It means being
available to solve problems or give direction whenever necessary.
Being a leader means being a servant, whether you are in your home or at work. You are always on call.
A leader works hard.
8. Be ethical
As I travel a lot, I gather stats from many different papers and
magazines. USA Today stated that two in three adults believe ethics
“vary by situation” or that there is no “unchanging ethical standard of
right and wrong.” Only 18% of the people ages 20 – 30 said that there
was one standard of right and wrong.
The Vancouver Province printed another study, which reflected that we
tell 200 lies a day. Everything from giving excuses for our behaviour,
to saying things like, “I hate to bother you . . . ” Don’t expect your
staff or the next generation to do what is right if they see you doing
what is wrong.
It is incredibly important that we have a strong code of ethics to base our decisions and lifestyle on.
What set of values dictate your ethics your behaviour? Or do you have
a code of ethics? Do you have convictions that cause you to say, “I
will never do that” or “For me, that is not an option?” If you don’t,
sit down, think through and write down your non-negotiable code of
ethics. Sometimes it can be the little things that erode your standards
and by the way your self esteem. When temptation comes, you may very
well do something that you will later be sorry for. Sometimes you have
harmful situations to live with the rest of your life.
Margaret Thatcher once said, “I am not a consensus politician, I am a
conviction politician.” What kind of leader are you? Do you have
convictions of your own or do you live by the consensus of other
opinions?
It is of utmost importance to have high ethical standards to be an effective leader.
9. Let God be your guide
Elizabeth Dole, President of the American Red Cross, stated in an
interview: “To me it’s very important to know I have a source of
strength beyond my own. When I’m undertaking a difficult assignment or
making a tough decision, I’m glad I don’t have to rely on my own energy,
wisdom, and judgement.”
Twenty four years ago,
I realized I needed a source of strength beyond myself. The
goals I had set for myself were not satisfying and even relationships
did not fill my deepest need. At the ageof thirty two, I gave the
control of my life to God. He is that source of strength I needed. I
simply prayed, “I want You to be my Guide from now until I die.” He
heard me.
Initially, I was filled with tremendous joy, peace and satisfaction. I
felt like someone really cared for me accepted me unconditionally. It
was like finding a missing piece to a puzzle after looking for a long
time.
My goals, priorities and dreams started changing. My dreams became
much bigger beyond what I could personally do. My scope of interest grew
from the home base to the community, from the community to the
province, from the province to our nation, from our nation to the world.
I noticed many women in my world were not maximizing their abilities;
I worked hard to encourage and train them to be the best women they
could be.
Yet what is more important, I realized that if God could
satisfy me and change my life so dramatically, He could do that for
anyone. So I started telling people how they could have a personal
relationship with God.
Find the power to change your life and your world–let God be your guide.
Oliver W. Holmes was quoted as saying, “I find the great thing in
this world is not so much where we stand, as is what direction we are
heading.” What direction do you think you will be heading 5 years from
now? 10 years from now? 25 years from now?
As a leader, what direction are you heading? What direction are you taking the 250 people you are influencing?
Living with hope
If you are looking for peace, there is a way to balance your life. No
one can be perfect, or have a perfect life. But every one of us has the
opportunity to experience perfect grace through a personal relationship
with God.
You can receive God right now by faith through prayer. Praying is
simply talking to God. God knows your heart and is not so concerned with
your words as he is with the attitude of your heart.
Source :
Katherine J. Kehler
Wanita dengan diabetes gestasional berisiko lebih tinggi untuk menderita diabetes mellitus tipe 2 (atau diabetes laten autoimun/tipe 1, tetapi tipe 1 sangat jarang dialami) setelah masa kehamilan, sementara anak-anak yang dilahirkan, akan sangat rentan terhadap obesitas pada perkembanganya, dengan kemungkinan akan terkena diabetes tipe 2 di kemudian hari. Kabar baiknya adalah pengobatan diabetes gestasional dapat dilakukan, dan biasanya hilang setelah kehamilan. Anda dapat memulai pengobatan sejak dini untuk menurunkan risiko pada Anda dan bayi Anda. Perawatan yang bisa Anda lakukan adalah mengontrol/mengecek kadar gula secara berkala, diet, olahraga, dan obat-obatan.
Penting untuk mengingat bahwa resiko untuk terkena diabetes mellitus tipe 2 akan terus berlanjut. Anda dapat mengurangi resiko itu dengan terus melakukan diet sehat dan program olahraga yang telah anda lakukan selama masa kehamilan. Tanyakan juga pada dokter anda, Berapa target berat badan yang wajar untuk Anda. Jika anda memang kelebihan berat badan, kehilangan hanya 5-7% dari berat badan anda, bisa mengurangi resiko terkena diabetes di masa depan.
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