Alan Mulally, who turned Ford around, was the subject of a Forbes’ article recently on the power of vision and optimism. It made me wonder, yet again, about what leadership really means.

My coaching clients are often leaders in their own fields. They can head corporations, be business owners, entrepreneurs, professionals or individuals who try to make a decent living, and strive to fulfill dreams and reach personal and professional objectives.

Their courage to seek guidance, business coaching and consulting, gives testimony to their creativity, awareness, and desire to succeed. In choosing to have a soundboard, a cheerleader, motivator, someone who challenges them in profound ways, and expands their boundaries and thinking, they are very brave. In holding their vision and telling them sometime uneasy truths, I push them forward. In taking that journey, they already show more than signs of leadership. Their willingness and responsibility to be challenged and to become accountable at every step of the way on their own road is a further sign of strength, success, empowerment and charisma.

Like Mulally, inspiring leaders are exceptional communicators who are passionate about their work, articulate a compelling vision, are engaging, inspire trust, rally people behind them, and do it all with a healthy dose of optimism.

They don’t need to head a big, or even a small corporation. They just need to live their lives in integrity, to be productive and to change their own universe for the better.

More to follow soon…

Ella