Leadership is often made out to be a huge responsibility and some people have become scared of taking it on; the concept of calling themselves a leader makes them uncomfortable. That’s one of the many great points Drew Dudley made in only six minutes during his TEDxToronto talk (below).
Drew argues that we’ve convinced ourselves that we celebrate AMAZING things that hardly anybody can do – and those are the only things worth celebrating while we devalue the things that we can do every day. As Drew points out leadership is more than huge tasks; it can be as simple as handing someone a lollipop and making a joke like he shared with a girl during her first day visiting her college campus (that had ripple effects four years later and throughout the rest of her life). Check out that story and his talk here:
While Drew’s talk focuses on leadership and the seemingly small ways we can contribute I also realized (and hopefully this resonates with you too) that…
LEADERSHIP AND GRATITUDE GO HAND IN HAND
When people lead wisely and help you grow as a person or create opportunities for you – how do you feel about them afterwards? That’s the tie between leadership and gratitude; one leads to the other. When you help other people and step up, in even small ways, that’s how other people feel about you.
Lollipop Moment:
A moment where somebody said something or did something
that you feel fundamentally made your life better.
So what does this mean to you? A LOT if you…
BECOME A CATALYST FOR GRATITUDE
As Drew says about people that have changed our lives in even small ways: “…We let people that have made our lives better walk around without even knowing it!” Think about whoever you thought about above. Have you told them how they helped you? Have you thanked them? If not it’s time to acknowledge that lollipop moment.
Today you can start by…
Thanking people for past Lollipop moments Take one of those moments, one of those memories that makes you smile and share that smile with the person that helped you. Call them. Tell them exactly what they did and why you’re grateful. It will take about five minutes. At least email them. Go ahead…
Then continue the ripple effect of gratitude with leadership by…
Creating the opportunity to create Lollipop Moments everyday Start by being aware that Lollipop Moments exist (you’re welcome). Every day be open and search for opportunities to reach out with a smile, a gesture, some support, some understanding or any other seemingly small way you can let your leadership change by starting a ripple effect of happiness in another person’s life.
What Lollipop Moments will YOU acknowledge and create this week?
“We need to redefine leadership as being about Lollipop Moments…
How many of them we create, how many we acknowledge,
How many of them we pay forward and how many of them we say thank you for.”
