The LeaderShape Institute is all about become the best servant leader that you can be. It's a 5 day retreat that places you out of your element, and helps you to find a focus in your life. For me, it showed me my true passions and a way to make my dreams a reality.
_December of 2010, my life was influenced beyond what I deemed
possible at the time. Within one week, I learned to let myself make
mistakes and say “how fascinating” afterwards; I learned that I have a
strong network that will allow me to rely on them when I’m struggling; I
learned that I have the strength to accomplish any dream that I make,
and I now have the skills to set goals that others would laugh at. I
discovered my passions at their deepest roots within me. I opened a
world of opportunities and gained the confidence to believe in my future
success.
As an entrepreneur, blaring confidence and
remaining personable are two attributes that I can’t lack at any point.
Once we had divided into our “family clusters”, I was golden. The ten of
us bonded quickly on our personal lives and left nothing for
questioning. Never in my life have I been so open with a room of
strangers, but never in my life has it been so easy. I found four other
girls that could easily be bridesmaids in my wedding. I built a network
off of others dreams that will carry me far, without a doubt. This
family helped me to uncover what I wanted to do with entrepreneurship
and accounting. They gave me context to a bold set of majors.
LeaderShape, as a whole, lead me to my biggest goal: opening a rescue
shelter for animals. Not only am I now equipped with this goal, but I
have also set up the minor steps that are necessary to make this shelter
a reality.
I’ve said repeatedly that we were taught how to
create these ultimate goals. In one of our breakout sessions we were
given the task to label our goals in separate categories. I created a
bull’s eye. On the inner most layer laid the goals that were reasonably
easy to accomplish: start an animal cruelty awareness club on campus,
start working at a shelter, take courses and gain certificates in dog
training, etc. the second ring held more long-term goals: create a
non-profit, non-kill rescue shelter, help 400 dogs get adopted out,
create a successful training program, and the final layer is the hardest
to reach (stretch goals): create a world where dogs are not killed,
find warm and loving homes with dependable owners for every dog, create
spay and neuter laws to keep population rates down.
I live my life by leading with
integrity. Becoming a servant leader is my destiny, and I thank
LeaderShape every day for opening my eyes to the possibilities of what
could be.
Above is a photograph of my manageable and stretch goals which lead to my ultimate vision.
Below is a sign used during our inspirational performance about the ripple effects of a world full of positive change.
Below is a sign used during our inspirational performance about the ripple effects of a world full of positive change.