Great Leaders

From the time that I was young, I have had the ability to organize and to lead.  I believe that this character trait comes from my mother.  I grew up the oldest of five children and would often be called bossy (probably because I am), however I believe that by having that character flaw, I was actually developing a stronger character trait.  I was learning what it takes to be a leader.
Throughout my life I have often been tasked to lead and organize things and have often wondered why I was chosen to do these things?  I ended up becoming a part of a great community basketball organization by getting on the Board of Directors as the Executive Secretary.  I learned so many things from that experience that have helped me in my current endeavors.  I learned what it takes to be a leader.  I learned that sometimes when a leader is tasked with a big job, he breaks the job into smaller tasks and then finds the best people who specialize in those areas to carry out those jobs.  The role of a leader is to have a vision and to be able to rally others around that vision so that they not only work hard for the cause, but they WANT to work hard for the cause.
Fast Forward to today.  This past week I accepted the role as the Fundraising Chairperson on the Board of Directors for the Noyse (pronounced "noise") Fine Arts Foundation.  Which is a non-profit organization whose main directive is to use local talent to enrich the community through the fine arts.  Right now our focus is on building a beautiful community theatre that will be the home of the Noyse Fine Arts Foundation and we have everything in place, except that we need to raise $600,000.  My role on the Board of Directors, as Fundraising Chairperson, is to lead the fundraising initiatives that we have come up with.  Because I have had experience in fundraising and experience in creating a Board of Directors, I have had to take on a leadership role in this.  I didn't mind taking on this role, in fact it felt really natural, but I just can't get over the fact that the theme of this week's lesson in my Introduction to Entrepreneurship class is Disciple Leadership.  I mean REALLY!  I know that the Lord's hand has been guiding me to this project, however I am constantly amazed by how well He knows exactly what I need to hear and when I need to hear it.
The Action Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence wrote an article called, "A Letter to Garcia, will you deliver it" which is so incredibly perfect for my current situation that I pretty much ended up simply saving the article on my computer so that I can reference it in the future.  In it, it states, "The ability to execute is more valuable than education or talent, because it is far rarer."  (Insert mind explosion here.) YES!  This is so true!  Right now, I have had copious amounts of meetings to completely change the current Board of Directors for the Noyse Fine Arts Foundation because there were too many members of the board who were too inactive and with our current Katy Grand Theatre fundraising project, we just needed more active people on this board.  The amazing thing has been that as we have really become stuck when it comes to finding the perfect person to fill each position on our Board of Directors, the Lord seems to place the perfect person right in front of us.  It has been awe-inspiring and a most humbling experience.
My favorite part about the article from The Action Foundation for Entrepreneurial Excellence is when it explicitly explains HOW to become a leader.  I want to share it with all of you because I feel like this has finally happened for me, at 36 years old.

1 - Begin to see your life as a "calling" toward a Hero's Journey.
          When I started this course, I had no idea what I wanted to do as an entrepreneur.  I have done many things in my life and tried many things but I didn't yet have a "calling".  A couple of weeks ago, I got that calling and I have been rejuvinated in my actions and in my goals.  I love that I get to use my love of music and my love of business to help create something that will be bigger than myself.

2 - Develop your gifts and talents into a decipline.
          Do you now see why I believe that this lesson has come at this most opportune time?  The Lord really knows me, I believe that without a doubt.

3 - Find a "deep burning need" you care about.
          I have always been passionate about the arts, and music especially.  Moving from Calgary where the culture is very much orientated around the Fine Arts to Texas where the culture is very much orientated around sports and more specifically, football has been an adjustment for me.  The neat thing about Katy, TX is that most of the people in this suburb of Houston come from other parts of the country and even the world.  It is mostly families that settle here and it is growing at an enormous rate.  Because of this, there is a huge demand for the arts here and simply nothing that fills that demand.  I am so excited to be part of something that can leave a legacy for my children and grand-children.

4 - Surround yourself with good people and worthy role models.
          I have been so blessed to have been surrounded by many incredible role models.  I have been mentored by small business owners who are incredible examples of visionary leaders.  I have been raised by a mother who has successfully created 2 businesses and who has always been an example of how to balance being a mother with being successful in her career.  My father is the smartest man I know and has mentored me about finances and investments and how to make money work for you.  My Grandfather has been an incredible friend and resource when it comes to business as he helped develop the engineering program at the University of Calgary and then went on to create an engineering consulting firm which was bought out by a large engineering company several years ago.  I am currently surrounded by people of high caliber who constantly strive to become better each day and who are always reaching out to help those around them.  Thus, I have been able to learn many lessons from each of these people which is what I am drawing on at this moment in time as this opportunity has opened up to me.

My moment has arrived.  The years of learning and growing have been leading up to this.  The lessons that I am learning in my classes are helping me to become a part of something that is bigger than myself and will leave a legacy for my children long after I have left this earth.  I cannot help but be humbled at the incredible timeliness of this lesson and I hope that, one day, I can look back on this time and understand just how big the impact of this lesson truly has on my life.