Leadership Part II: Finding Your Voice

One of the ways I think we discover our own voice is to spend quiet time alone. As a single working mom with two kids, that is not always an easy task. I know many moms and dads who have difficulty finding that time to listen to our inner voice. In Girl Scout Essentials, our initial workshop for new volunteers, we created a guided imagery that takes volunteers back to that 8 or nine year old self who is unabashedly truthful. There, many women and men get to begin the discovery of the voice of the self through that process. For, if we are to help young girls become the leaders of today and tomorrow that Ken Blanchard (see previous blog) and Steven Covey (see below), believe we need, understanding and having a relationship with the self is critical.
Covey, in his blog on his community web site, believes that finding your voice is answered in four questions: “1) What are you good at? That’s your mind. 2) What do you love doing? That’s your heart. 3) What need can you serve? That’s the body. 4) And finally, what is life asking of you? What gives your life meaning and purpose? What do you feel like you should be doing? In short, what is your conscience directing you to do? That is your spirit.”
He points out that sometimes key to finding your voice is a mentor or someone who really sees you. I have experienced this both as the mentee and the mentor and it is powerful. When someone really sees you for your gifts, you are more likely to step into them more fully. Even more powerful is when someone sees your talents and challenges you to step into them further. A wonderful man I once worked for always said to me “Stackpole, you are a giant, and you need to practice giant behavior and be around other giants.” I knew exactly what he meant and his words encouraged me to be the leader he saw in me.
As a supervisor, I have had many occasions to hear from someone that I had encouraged to step into their greatness as I was encouraged to do. Over the years, I have received several notes from people who shared specific incidences in which I had helped a person step into her greatness just by acknowledging the talents that I had seen. One woman wrote, “You always challenged me to try just one more thing that I didn’t think I could do. Your encouragement helped me to be the person I am today.”
In Girl Scouts, this mentoring model is woven into the very fabric of what our leadership development program is all about. Girls are encouraged to try on new behaviors and ideas, in a cooperative learning environment. Along the way, adults also benefit as we have to practice that which we seek to instill in others.