Mistakes Will Be Made.

I started this blog when I started my term as Region 1 Director back when dinosaurs roamed the Earth (ok, 2008). It was intended to be a short-term project to help connect my region's clubs to each other and to resources and knowledge. It has grown and evolved and changed focus over time - much like the very people who make up Active 20-30.

Every now and then, I enjoy pausing, taking stock and appreciating where I am in my journey as a young leader and as an Active 20-30ian. I send up thanks for the people* who have shaped that journey. It really has been an amazing ride so far - with more twists, turns and hills than I imagined back in the first post.

All in all, I like the woman and the leader I've become. I've found my legs and my voice during this journey and continue to strengthen them. I've enjoyed so many opportunities to connect and (hopefully) inspire. I've made my fair share of mistakes and surely will find new ones to make before I'm done. I've been fortunate enough to have wonderful leaders beside me when I've stumbled. 

There is one principle that has stayed at the core of what I do; at the forefront of my mind as I talk with people and as I lead and serve. Former 3M Chairman, William McKnight's 1946 address, now known as the McKnight Principle, finds its way into my head often: 

"As our business grows, it becomes increasingly necessary to delegate responsibility and to encourage men and women to exercise their initiative. This requires considerable tolerance. Those men and women, to whom we delegate authority and responsibility, if they are good people, are going to want to do their jobs in their own way.  

Mistakes will be made. But if a person is essentially right, the mistakes he or she makes are not as serious in the long run as the mistakes management will make if it undertakes to tell those in authority exactly how they must do their jobs.

Management that is destructively critical when mistakes are made kills initiative. And it's essential that we have many people with initiative if we are to continue to grow."

I can't think of a better statement to govern us as young leaders and mentors. Active 20-30 is very much about finding our own styles and letting others find theirs. It's about creating a safe place to try and to experience... and even to fail. It's our job to be compassionate not only with those in need, but with one another.

Do you have any mantras or quotes that have shaped the leader that you have become?

* You know who you are, I hope.