Leadership - where does it come from?

Where does leadership come from? I think I 'got' it from my family. As the eldest of 8 children, there was always someone to lead. Then I just felt right joining groups at school and in the community. Eventually, I was elected or volunteered for executive positions. My husband says it's because I don't sit on my hands. :-) Sometimes I think it's because I'm impatient. I know what I want and how to get it and I don't wait for someone else to lead the way.

Leadership can be a gift or a curse, depending upon how you look at it. I prefer to look at things from the sunshiny side and I would say that it is a gift. I enjoy my job, even though sometimes it is extremely challenging.

In this leadership course I am involved in, one assignment was to write a Credo memo to my staff, role playing that I would be gone for six months and using this Credo as a basis for decision making while I was gone. The other assignment was to reflect on role models that prepared us for leadership in education. Both of these assignments allowed me the time and space to think about how I became a leader and what it is that I stand for. I did not have to think long and hard, but putting these thoughts down on paper is holding me accountable to both. :-)