January marks the beginning of a new walk for me as I now offer this monthly reflection. I’m attempting to fill the big shoes of one of my most cherished mentors—Jo Anne Preston, who taught me so very much about myself and about what true leadership looks like. Realistically I know I’ll never fill her shoes, as I’m simply not like her, despite my desire to be. Instead, I’m working on walking ever steadier in my own shoes. Over the past 23 years of my own leadership journey, even that has proven challenging: I’ve stumbled MANY A TIME wearing these shoes. And I’m still wearing them in! Have you had the experience of trying to fill the big shoes of a leader or mentor you admire?
Come stagger with me as I continue to tighten the buckles of my leadership shoes. Let’s march onward together. I’ll share with you in the coming months many of the things I’ve learned—mostly the hard way, along with things I’m still learning about leadership.
Two tips I’ll offer you with this first installment:
- YOU BE YOU. I’ve admired many leaders over the years. I’ve strived to be like them. I’ve never succeeded. I can only be me. You can only be you. And each of us are good and strong enough to stand in our own shoes with confidence as we commit to becoming the very best version of ourselves.
- “TO INCREASE YOUR SUCCESS RATE…DOUBLE YOUR FAILURE RATE.” This quote has guided and comforted me on my unsteady days when my walk was wobbly. I deeply want to be a great leader but I’ve missed the mark on occasion. That’s hard to accept. But neither I nor you can expect to know it all. Failure can be an awfully great teacher if you’re willing to do the reflection (along with a few apologies) on what didn’t work and what might work better next time. Strive to do well but don’t expect perfection in your leadership. Leadership is a journey, not a destination. Expect growth. After all, you’re still breaking in those shoes.
As I introduce myself to you, here’s a little about how I’ve grown into my leadership “shoes:”
As a toddler when I’d get in trouble while playing with my siblings, one punishment was to sit in “time out.” As the stories go, I would sit in long periods of silence with my jaw set, my little brow in a deep frown, my arms crossed in defiance, unwilling to admit my wrong. Early leadership was rough. Where might you stubbornly hang on to your approaches, even when they aren’t serving you?
Gradually those stubborn roots blossomed into growth as I learned much more effective ways to guide the efforts of my siblings—building relationships and using influence (candy worked quite well!)—rather than swatting and squawking when they didn’t do as I wanted. The shoes flopped and clomped as I attempted to walk. Where have you built relationships with adversaries to gain influence that enables serving the greater good? Are there relationships now you still need to strengthen?
School years flew by, and I was given opportunities to further develop my leadership with others. Be it within clubs and extracurricular activities, at 4-H camp, or at church, I seemed to gravitate towards leading others. Still MANY lessons occurred! Blisters galore! Reflecting on your past, what opportunities continue to present themselves in the kind of leader you are?
As I graduated college, I distinctly remember telling my first physical therapy supervisor, “I’d never want to be a supervisor.” Never say never. Three years later…it fell in my lap in a small, rural hospital in South Dakota. Then again in Minnesota. Then here in Wisconsin. My feet were growing into the soles, but my socks had holes! With the new year upon us, what goals might you have for yourself if you were open to all possibilities?
Oh, the mistakes, growing pains, and learning! A year passed, then five, then a couple decades. And just as I thought I’d figured it out and was finally getting strong in leading others, I’d receive yet one more reminder of my fallibility—jumping to conclusion without full investigation, missing opportunity to offer a heartfelt appreciation when warranted…darn the callouses from those shoes! How have you learned and grown within your own journey?
I’d like to seek forgiveness from all those I led over the years for missteps I made when the shoes were still so much bigger than I had feet to fill. And yet also thank the leaders above me who kept believing I could grow stronger, steadier. And I did. The stumbles that originally left me flat on my face became more of a drunken swagger and then eventually, like sways with more efficient balance corrections. The shoes started to fit better and they got more comfortable too!
Stick with me on this “Cinderella” journey. We're not looking for the prince, just finding our way to our own shoes that fit.
“I’ve failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed.” — Michael Jordan
“If in life you stumble, make it part of the dance.” - River Maria Urke
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
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Corrie Searles, MPT, Leadership Development Educator
In Corrie’s role as Leadership Development Educator at the Rural Wisconsin Health Cooperative (RWHC), her aim is to empower leaders--formal and informal--to create positive influence that enables others to serve well.
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