Quotes and Stories from Amanda's Lead Out Loud™ Presentation

From Authentic Leadership by Bill George...

As a leader you have the task of engaging the hearts of those you serve and aligning their interests with the interests of the organization you lead.

Engaging the hearts of others requires a sense of purpose and an understanding of where you are going. When you find that special alignment you and your team will have the power to move mountains.

You will hear the call to lead in a different way:

• To be motivated by your mission not your money
• To tap into your values , not your ego
• To connect with others through your heart, not your persona
• To live your life with such discipline that you would be proud to read about our behavior on the front page of the New York Times.

People will forget what you say, They will forget what you do, But people will never forget how you made them feel.
- author unknown

Heart Glasses: The fox gives the little prince a secret to life…"here is my secret. It is quite simple. One sees clearly only with the heart. Anything essential is invisible to the eye. "

Good Finders: Everybody can be great... you only need a heart full of grace. - Martin Luther King Jr.

Reframing: Unfortunate events though potentially a source of anger and despair have equal potential to be a source of spiritual growth. Whether or not this is the outcome depends on your response. - Dalai Lama

Trouble Tree: A man watches his neighbor come home every day and sees him do the same thing. He walks up to a big tree in the front yard and does this hanging thing. Then shakes himself off and walks in front door. He watches for ages then finally asks what his neighbor is doing. The neighbor says 'oh that's my trouble tree, every day after work, I know my family needs ME not my troubles from work - so I hang them on the tree - shake myself off and walk inside as a husband and father. On the way out in the morning - I come outside and pick them up again - funny - there never seems to be as many as the night before!'

"We don't see - we perceive and judge." Anon "We need to use judgment, not make judgment." - Evan Enkelmann

"We are in love with the influence of power, when we should be in love with the power of influence." - Michael Grinder

SHINE YOUR LIGHT… WHO YOU ARE MAKES A DIFFERENCE

A teacher in New York decided to honor each of her seniors in high school by telling them the difference they each made. She called each student to the front of the class, one at a time. First she told each of them how they had made a difference to her and the class.

Then she presented each of them with a blue ribbon imprinted with gold letters, which read, "Who I Am Makes a Difference."

Afterwards the teacher decided to do a class project to see what kind of impact recognition would have on a community. She gave each of the students three more ribbons and instructed them to go out and spread this acknowledgment ceremony. Then they were to follow up on the results, see who honored whom and report back to the class in about a week.

One of the boys in the class went to a junior executive in a nearby company and honored him for helping him with his career planning. He gave him a blue ribbon and put it on his shirt. Then he gave him two extra ribbons and said, "We're doing a class project on recognition, and we'd like you to go out find somebody to honor, give them a blue ribbon, then give them the extra blue ribbon so they can acknowledge a third person to keep this acknowledgment ceremony going. Then please report back to me and tell me what happened."

Later that day the junior executive went in to see his boss, who had been noted, by the way, as being kind of a grouchy fellow. He sat his boss down and he told him that he deeply admired him for being a creative genius.

The boss seemed very surprised. The junior executive asked him if he would accept the gift of the blue ribbon and would he give him permission to put it on him. His surprised boss said, "Well, sure." The junior executive took the blue ribbon and placed it right on his boss's jacket above his heart.

As he gave him the last extra ribbon, he said, "Would you do me a favor? Would you take this extra ribbon and pass it on by honoring somebody else? The young boy who first gave me the ribbons is doing a project in school and we want to keep this recognition ceremony going and find out how it affects people."

That night the boss came home to his 14-year-old son and sat him down. He said, "The most incredible thing happened to me today. I was in my office and one of the junior executives came in and told me he admired me and gave me a blue ribbon for being a creative genius. Imagine. He thinks I'm a creative genius. Then he put this blue ribbon that says: "Who I Am Makes a Difference, on my jacket above my heart. He gave me an extra ribbon and asked me to find somebody else to honor. As I was driving home tonight, I started thinking about whom I would honor with this ribbon and I thought about you.

I want to honor you. My days are really hectic and when I come home I don't pay a lot of attention to you. Sometimes I scream at you for not getting good enough grades in school and for your bedroom being a mess, but somehow tonight, I just wanted to sit here and, well, just let you know that you do make a difference to me. Besides your mother, you are the most important person in my life. You're a great kid and I love you!"

The startled boy started to sob and sob, and he couldn't stop crying. His whole body shook. He looked up at his father and said through his tears, "Dad, earlier tonight I sat in my room and wrote a letter to you and Mom explaining why I had killed myself and asking you to forgive me. I was going to commit suicide tonight after you were asleep. I just didn't think that you cared at all. The letter is upstairs. I don't think I need it after all." His father walked upstairs and found a heartfelt letter full of anguish and pain. The envelope was addressed, "Mom and Dad."

The boss went back to work a changed man. He was no longer a grouch but made sure to let all his employees know that they made a difference. The junior executive helped several other young people with career planning and never forgot to let them know that they made a difference in his life...one being the boss's son.

And the young boy and his classmates learned a valuable lesson. Who you are DOES make a difference.

If you have anyone who means a lot to you, I encourage you to send him or her this message and let them know. You never know what kind of difference a little encouragement can make to a person.

- This is a true story from Helice Bridges, an amazing woman making the world a better place. If you want to help, visit www.blueribbons.com or www.blueribbons.org or email her at ablueribbn@aol.com

A Quote From Marianne Williamson...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves "who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, and fabulous?" Actually who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are born to make manifest the Glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us , it's in everyone, as as we let our light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

- Marianne Williamson from "A Return to Love," Harper Collins