HOW TO BE A LEADERSHIP ‘BOSS’

If you can see it, you can be it.

- Attributed to, amongst others, Billie Jean King, Geena Davis

Late last year I had a photo shoot for my new brand near Sydney Harbour. About 45 minutes into the shoot we were at the harbour edge, looking across at the Opera House, for a whole suite of photos. For a moment we needed to pause because a group of high school girls were walking past.

Now, imagine this, I’m done up to the nines. I’ve had my hair done, my makeup done, I’m in my suit and heels and I am working with a photographer who has all their kit with them. It is very clear that we are doing a photo shoot.

As this group of girls walked past, this is what they yelled out:

“What do you do?”

“You’re a boss.”

“Love seeing successful women.”

“That’s what we’re going to be.”

And my incredible photographer, Melinda Hird, and I just loved hearing this so much. It made our day to see future leaders realise their possibilities. All because we were out there showing how it’s done. They could see it and they can see themselves doing the same thing, or probably even better.

There is so much power in leadership role modelling, because let’s face it, we still need more leaders.

We need more leaders in our future generations to navigate and lead us through all of the challenges that we know will be in front of us. The more exposure these future leaders get to the concepts that will support them realising their potential and their possibilities, the more power we offer them.

And it is the same in our organisations today. It is not just about future generations. Role modelling leadership has an impact on everybody in your organisation because everybody in your organisation has the potential to lead. To lead themselves, to lead perhaps a team or an idea or a program of work, to lead the workplace culture and, to lead the organisation.

Your future leaders can come from anywhere in your organisation. And the more you are role modelling and showing up as a leader, the more opportunity you are creating for them to realise that they too can lead.

Here are a few questions for you to consider.

❖ How are you showing up as a leader?

❖ How present are you being as a leader?

❖ How are you role modelling leadership?

❖ How are you role modelling the things you want to be role modelling?

❖ What are people taking away from how you are being with them?

❖ How are you behaving with them?

❖ How are you visible to them?

❖ How are you showing them what leaders are?

❖ How are you doing leadership?

❖ How are you being a leader?

❖ How are you role modelling leadership today?

I’d love to know your thoughts.