Study Guide

Study Guide

 

 

Every outstanding female leader I have ever known has found herself facing crossroads and eureka moments. Those times of fear and decision define us as much as the occasions of triumph and clarity. We learn our lessons by how we lead ourselves through the process. 

 

1-     What is your definition of leadership?

2-     Describe how you think a female leader would physically look. How would she conduct herself?

3-     What leadership gifts would you deploy and utilize if given the opportunity?

4-     If I were to free myself from the mundane, what areas of my life would I develop?

5-     List your accumulated skills.

6-     Name a leader you know. Why is that person a leader? What qualities do they possess that you would want to emulate?

 

 

 

External and internal barriers become mental roadblocks that we have to move out of the way. That takes courage and energy and a plan for how we want to move forward. We don’t move roadblocks by sitting still. We move roadblocks and hindrances by taking action.

 

1-     What external barriers prohibit you from stepping forward in a leadership role?

2-     How can you begin to remove these barriers?

3-     List any internal barriers that exist.

4-     What is your greatest fear in taking a leadership role?

5-     If you have to bridge the leadership gap, what would you need to do to close the gap and build a bridge?

6-     How do you envision a highly successful female leader?

7-     What is the last leadership role you accepted?

8-     Have your past leadership roles been a positive or negative experience? Describe why.

 

 

 

We are presented with a choice as open doors are in front of us. We can be secure and content or we can be vulnerable and take a risk. In order to reach our goals and have our dreams become realities, it requires that we develop an appetite for taking risks. Remember, in order to have the rewards, you have to take the risks and assume the responsibilities.

 

1-     If you were to take a risk, you would take a risk to accomplish__________________.

2-     How much is inaction costing you each day? How much would it benefit you if you took a risk and took action?

3-     This week I would have liked to accomplish

a.

b.

c.

            if I had focused on excellence instead of perfection.

 

 

Many times we do it without thinking. All too often it comes as second nature. It is a habit that we can change and we should! We all compare ourselves to others in our daily lives. Remember, each of us will travel a different route to our life’s success story. We each have different goals and seek different opportunities. You are unique. Let’s focus on being the best at being you.

1-     Do you think you undervalue yourself? Why?

2-     Ask a trusted friend to write a descriptive paragraph of you and your strengths. 

3-     Update your resume and include the attributes of your life experiences.

4-     When is the last time you made an opportunity for yourself?

5-     What “special knowledge” do you think you should have for your dream job?

6-     What is your dream job? Describe.

7-     Write your story.

 

 

Tenacity and perseverance. When you think about yourself, you know you have those attributes in spades. So now is the time to look with fresh sight at the experiences you have had and the natural gifts you have been given. Each person will have a different calculation on their life equity or their stock in trade. Take the time to assign importance and value to your gifts and strengths.

1-     List your strengths

2-     Write a paragraph that articulates why you view this as a strength and how you have exercised this strength.

3-     Ask three friends to list your three most prominent strengths and why they would choose them.

4-     My natural gifting would lend itself to which tasks and endeavors.

 

 

 

 

 

 

As you conduct an inventory of your gifts, strengths and experiences, focus on your passions. What drives you? What motivates you to push thru adversity? What is the center of your daydreams and your heart’s desires? What causes you to burst with enthusiasm?

 

Write a chapter about you and your passions. Include in the chapter a few paragraphs on what motivates you and how you best motivate yourself. If time and money were no object, I would spend my days focused on____________________________. I would place my energy and effort into accomplishing_________________________. I would make ___________ my top priority.

 

 

Credit for Life Experience should be a consideration given to each of us as we look at what we have experienced and accomplished. We learn by doing and individuals who have chosen to be lifelong learners are going to have plenty of experiences they will want to gain credit for in their life’s equity equation. So take an inventory and make a list. I think it will be longer than you anticipate!

 

1-     When I reappraise my life, the experience I think I deserve the most credit for is____________________________________.

2-     The skills that are most defined in my experience are

a.

b.

c.

d.

 

 

 

We as women know that we manage assets and we lead people. We focus on relationships and mentoring. We like to encourage, to listen and to share experiences in a secure environment. We seek to create this environment in our families, our workplace and our communities. Doing this requires that we know exactly who we are, what we are about and how we want to touch the lives of others.

1-     Write out your philosophy of life.

2-     Write a mission statement.

 

 

Leaders display leadership in their daily lives and make leadership a way of life. We have to remember that you can assign the title of leader to anyone, but leadership requires action. Leadership requires that you demonstrate the ability to lead your team.

 

1-     Build upon the statement, “I manage assets and things but I lead people” Write a paragraph explaining your concept of the difference between managing and leading.

2-     In building a team, what is the most important value to transmit to that team.

3-     It is important to develop a mentoring relationship. You should seek to have a mentor and to also be a mentor. Make the effort to seek someone who can guide you and someone you would seek to guide. Who would you like to have as a mentor and who would you choose to mentor?

4-     Recount a time when you learned more from failure than you would have learned from succeeding.

5-     The vision that drives me is______________________________.

6-     The solid principles upon which I stand are _______________________.

 

 

 

 

Millions are waiting for the right opportunity, the right time, the right day of the right week to break out of their daily routine and change their course. To do this requires that you exercise the courage and take the risks we have discussed in this book. Opportunities and open doors are there. What are you waiting for, take action!

 

1- I know I will make a difference because I am ________________________.