Leadership Lesson From a 7 Year old

I observed something interesting at my family Thanksgiving dinner yesterday. I watched as 3 little girls were playing outside as the adults were eating. The oldest girl (she is 10) was very loud and assertive. At first it appeared that she was "the boss" and she was constantly directing the group of girls towards what she wanted to do. The youngest of the three (she is 5) was the quietest and least assertive of the group. I don't think I heard her say a word the entire time. She was happy to follow them around and stay out of the way. But the middle girl (she is 7) is the one that intrigued me the most. I watched as she kept whispering in the ear of the older girl...just before the older girl's "decrees" to the group. She seemed fairly quiet and unassuming, but I finally realized that she was telling the older girl what SHE wanted to do. The middle girl was the one leading the group!

We can all learn alot about leadership from this little girl. She knew that the one who is in the position of leader isn't always the one leading the team. The loud, assertive, bossy girl wasn't the leader at all...it was the little quiet girl "whispering" her ideas. As a leader, IS YOUR GOAL TO LOOK LIKE THE LEADER OR BE THE LEADER? Who's ear should you be whispering in?