LEADERSHIP: BEING A POSITIVE FORCE AMONG THE NEGATIVE

I'm sure you've heard the quote, "don't mistake my kindness as weakness".  I feel the same way about this quote.  Don't mistake my positive attitude as being naive.  I'm generally a very positive person and have been put to the test on this many times in my personal and professional life. 


I do think that I've been perceived as naive over and over again because I am a kind and positive person.  But on the inside, I've really had to work through my expectations of people and circumstances and come to peace with what I can and cannot control in different hard situations. What I can control is my reaction and how I solve the problem.  We are all hardest on ourselves and it is very easy for me to get down on myself when I think that I'm not living up to expectations.   Of course, my personal expectations are being super mom 100% of the time,  handling every work project with excellence and grace, and being a superior wife, mother, friend and family member.  That doesn't always happen.

Don't be so hard on yourself!  This is one of the things that I've learned over the past few years. Ninety nine percent of our struggles are intensified in our minds; let things go.  Maybe you didn't get to everything on your to do list today, most of it will be there tomorrow.  

Back to the quote - I've found myself in several situations especially at work - where this was necessary.  As a supervisor and leader at a big healthcare institution, people look up to me to see how I will react when things go wrong.....and they do...a lot.  I also had many direct reports who were in the middle of a lot of office quarrels and drama.  Through all of it, it was important that I didn't let my frustration show, but rather, I needed to stay positive and help guide people through different circumstances no matter how big or small they were.