Everyday Leadership

I’m in the process of writing two large articles: one for this blog and one for an online magazine.  Since my last blog post was a wild success, I thought I would follow it up with something more low-key.  Plus, it gives me more time to work on the other two articles 🙂

As my regular readers know, I am a fan of TED.com and TEDx conferences.  Drew Dudley’s presentation on Everyday Leadership from TEDx Toronto was posted this month and it really struck a chord.  Leadership is not always about being the guy (or girl) in charge or always being the most influential, inspirational or innovative.  There are many moments in life where saying or doing the right thing at the right time can make a big difference.  In my own life, I remember several “lollipop moments”, as he calls them.   At least for one, I was fortunate enough to recently give feedback to one person who was part of one such moment.   One thing not mentioned in the talk is that sometimes those moments are not pleasant.  We need to learn to recognize those moments and be grateful when something wonderful comes out of them.

I do agree with Drew Dudley in that leadership is not about changing the whole world.  It’s about the “lollipop moments”.  At work, the best teams not only have an influential, inspiring and/or innovative person in charge, they also have team members who are constantly doing all the little things to help everyone achieve the greater goal. Let’s remember to celebrate those people and those moments.

Do you have “lollipop moments” in your life?  Have you been part of a “lollipop moment” in someone else’s life?  If so, how did it make your or their life better?

Enjoy the video!

Related Posts:

• Be Inspiring
• The Most Important Question: Why?
• Good Ideas Don’t Come From Lone Heroes
• Creativity as a Life Skill: Inspiring Tedx talk by Gerard Puccio, Ph.D. (creativityland.ca)