Leadership Monday
by Cynthia Cherrey
Cynthia Cherrey is President and CEO of the International Leadership Association. Previously, Cynthia served as Lecturer in the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University and Vice President of Campus Life. She publishes in the areas of leadership, organizational development, and higher education including co-authoring Systemic Leadership: Enriching the Meaning of Our Work. Her most recent publication is Women and Leadership Around the World (co-editor). She is a Fellow at the World Business Academy and a recipient of a J.W. Fulbright Scholarship. Cynthia’s interests and research explore new ways to live, work, and lead in a knowledge-driven, interdependent, global society. She consults and speaks to for-profit and non-profit organizations around the world on leadership and organizational change. She can be reached at ccherrey@ila-net.org.
These past few days we experienced the economic driven days of Black Friday, Cyber Monday and, to remind us about the gift of giving, Giving Tuesday. Giving Tuesday is a global movement that has been built by individuals, organizations, businesses, and communities. People come together to support and champion the cause they believe in and the communities in which they live. It is a great day to reflect on what is important to each of us and consider what we believe in enough to give back.
In reflecting on our work in leadership, I am reminded constantly through various news feeds about the turbulence and the uncertainty in the world today. While leadership has always been important, what is different now is our heightened awareness of what is at stake, particularly when there is bad leadership or a lack of leadership altogether. The present requires nothing less than effective leadership at all levels and in all sectors throughout our lives, our work, and our communities. Of course, how each of us thinks about leadership, the theories that we believe in and aspire to put into practice, is different depending on our background, our experiences, our identity, and our culture. However we understand and define it, how do we act on it?
One such way can be to give to those nonprofits that are important to us on Giving Tuesday. I’d like to suggest that another way is to give an act of leadership. As the theme for the ILA’s 2019 annual global conference Leadership: Courage Required espouses, “it takes courage to be a leader acting out in front and it takes courage to be a follower acting with integrity and holding leaders accountable.”
Today and all this week, be intentional and courageous in practicing your leadership and take that extra step. Give of yourself and your leadership to create a small change for the greater good of all people.
A drop becomes a ripple, a ripple becomes a wave. The ILA community giving of themselves and their leadership can collectively create the waves needed to make change and, simply put, make a difference.
I look forward to hearing from you on how you gave back to your community through your leadership. Tag us on twitter @the_ILA #LeadershipMonday.