PINK SMOOTHIE'S THOUGHTS

Be a Leader: The Choice is Yours!

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Billy Beane never gave up until his retirement.  Nelson Mandela united an entire country.  Herman Boone proved a high school wrong. Erin Brockovich always did her best, so she could keep her family safe and healthy.

These are leaders that have never given up. They’ve looked back at everything they’ve done and have said, “Hey, I did that.”

Billy Beane was a great baseball manager that never imagined he could lead his team (the Oakland Athletics) to the finals.  Nelson Mandela used a game of cricket to unite his country and make everyone get along with each other.  Herman Boone was a football coach who proved that he could win games every single time his team played and didn’t get fired.  And finally, Erin Brockovich did a exhaustive investigation that must’ve been impossible to normal people, and she did it even if she didn’t have any legal experience because she wanted to help the people being affected.  As a result of the largest direct action lawsuit of its kind, PG & E was forced to pay out the largest toxic tort injury settlement in US history.

So, in this post, I’m going to be talking about one of the most important human values: leadership.

We see leadership developing in its early stages. Have you ever seen a school class president? A speaker for the class graduates from last year? Those are the most common examples of leadership, which makes me realize something.

Why do we all follow examples, if half the room doesn’t know how to become one for other generations?

Yup. I’m saying that we should become those examples, not just a simple follower to those that have become leaders.

Being a leader has its ups and downs—having to deal with haters, having pressure in your shoulders at all times, having to deal with bribery, having anxiety, and a lot more.

But why should you consider being a leader?

Well, it’s a huge responsibility, but it also helps inspire other people to become like you—a leader. More leaders in our world mean more people that are ready to guide others in becoming a better person. Those are the people that matter.

Now, the responsibilities might seem huge, and all of that negative energy you might receive a bit frightening.

First off, if you’re receiving negative comments, then brush them off. They’re jealous of you, and how you are. Don’t think “I want to have his/her life” or, “I want to be him/her”. And don’t feel bad, either.

You have to keep in mind the following words: successful people are the ones that always have more haters.

Why, you might ask? Well, because people are jealous of how successful leaders are—of their life, their family, everything they’re hating on, actually.

We also need haters in our life. Yup! You read that right.

We need them because, how are we supposed to know what critics think? In fact, 50% of the critics are haters—because sometimes they consider the product or how you are is just way too bad.

Haters also hate on you because they are either jealous of you and your life, or simply believe you should not be doing what you’re doing.
There’s only one way to stop hate: ignoring them.  If you ignore each and every one of those haters, then they’ll grow tired of you and hate on someone else.  Or, they might just leave because they’re tired you don’t respond to their comments, opinions, or whatever they do to “hate” on you.

You should know that it isn’t your fault you’re being hated on—it’s their fault.  They’re jealous of you—it’s not like you have a problem or something, they have one.  They’re just too jealous on you so they bring their “hate” machine and start throwing things at you.

You also need to remember that they might hate on you, they might fight you, but they’ll never stop you from your goal.

Now, onto the way on how to become a leader.

First of all, you don’t need to be arrogant.  Never be arrogant.  People just won’t be considering you a leader if you’re arrogant.  Put the people first and do what you consider it’s the best for them.

You should never be afraid to take risks—that’s how most young leaders create their ideas and become successful.  If you don’t take a risk, you’ll never know if the idea you wanted to create was good or not.

There are many leaders in real life—and also in movies.

In The American President, Michael Douglas who plays President Andrew Shepherd, gives a fantastic speech explaining how America needs a leader, and that the country is a tough one to manage.

Quoting Aaron Sorkin in The American President: “America isn’t easy. America is advanced citizenship. You gotta want it bad, ‘cause it’s gonna put up a fight. It’s gonna say, You want free speech? Let’s see you acknowledge a man whose words make your blood boil, who’s standing center stage and advocating at the top of his lungs that which you would spend a lifetime opposing at the top of yours. You want to claim this land as the land of the free? Then the symbol of your country can’t just be a flag; the symbol also has to be one of its citizens exercising his right to burn that flag in protest. Show me that, defend that, celebrate that in your classrooms. Then, you can stand up and sing about the ‘land of the free’.... I’m Andrew Shepherd and I am the President.”

Why did he say that? Well, because his opponent (Bob Rumson) always signed off with “I’m Bob Rumson and I am running for president!”

Another great inspirational speech is from Al Pacino in the movie Scent of a Woman. He talks about integrity, about why one must take the hard path. Why? Because that means we’re going to try and try and fail again and again—but know that we chose the right thing.

The purpose of this post is to inspire people to become leaders for future generations—it’s your choice.  We all have the choice becoming a leader—today is not too late to become one… you just need to have the right values, ideas, and integrity.

That’s all it takes to become a great leader.

Now… if you DO become a leader, think about inspiring people daily and affecting their lives somehow. Do you think people will start liking you if you become arrogant and egocentric? No. Do you think people will follow you if you decide to be an inspirational figure for our future generations? Yes.

We’re our future. All young people are.

I hope you consider becoming a leader for our world.

The choice is yours—and you know what to do.

This is my statement about being a leader. You can repeat after me replacing my name with yours.

“I’m Pink Smoothie, and I am proud of being who I am.”
 
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©2018
Pink Smoothie!

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

Here are some inspiring videos from movies that share real-examples of leadership…

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