It's a simple choice ... Lead, or be led!

When you "Save your drama for your Mama" you don't take it past the front door of your workplace. Charlie Sheppard has written a great book on the two triangles that leaders can find themselves in - the Drama Triangle and the Leadership Triangle. "By being determined, by being a leader, you stay out of the world of the Drama Triangle. When you are out of drama, so is the world around you. When you are in the Leadership Triangle, you can be a leader, and create more leaders, directly impacting the world around you." Sheppard discusses the various roles we play - the Rescuer, the Victim, the Coach, the Visionary. No doubt it's pretty obvious where you want to be just from reading the classifications. But Sheppard makes the point that our choices are reflected in our behaviors from the roles we adopt in life. He writes "When you fully embrace a role, you embrace its power - or its lack of power. You embrace its potential - or its limitation. You eventually embody the role." He goes into great detail about our motivations - are they internal or external (locus of control)? One of the most important points is that leaders make choices. Leaders don't lead because they have to, but because they want to, they choose to and they are constantly developing themselves over the years. Leaders have vision which makes them catalysts for change, for progress, and are constantly coaching others to become leaders too. There is so much wisdom, common sense and information that hits home in this work that it is worth reading again; it should even be required. Sheppard presents concepts in his work which are seeds to be planted in our life, teams and community and "stored within these ideas is vast potential." You won't be able to read this book without getting at least one great idea or thought you can implement to make yourself a better leader.