I would like to tell you a story about a woman who was a great leader!  Her name is Ione Miller and she just happens to be my mom.  Mom was a city girl who at the age of 19 married a country boy (my dad Clem) and moved to a farm in ND!  She raised 7 kids, ran the household and was my dad's best farmhand.  She was a very busy lady!  Yet regardless of how busy she was...even as kids we knew that when mom thought something mattered, come hell or high water, (one of her favorite sayings) she would make it happen.

Ione Miller

Our little Post office in St. Anthony was one of those things that mattered!  Mom heard they were planning on closing the post office and instead of just complaining about it she took action.  She called the powers that be to find out what she needed to do make stop it from happening. She was informed she would need a minimum of one hundred signatures on a petition from the

St. Anthony and surrounding area residents.  St. Anthony has a population of maybe all of 21 including pets which meant the majority of signatures would need to come from the surrounding farms. Mom drafted a petition and drove from farm to farm until she had secured all 100 signatures.   She happily handed over the petition over only to find out that it was no longer good enough. They had changed the rules and in order for the post office to stay open every family that signed needed to come to the post office and sign again in front of state representatives.  They chose a day in the middle of harvest season with a tiny window of time from 10am and 2pm. Mom asked for extended hours explaining that farmers worked from sun up to sun down in the field during harvest season.  They declined with a response of, "If it is so important they should just make time". Mom reassured them that it was indeed important and they would be there. Once again she went from farm to farm to rally support.

The day arrived and mom waited anxiously with the representatives. Over two hours had passed and not even one person had come to sign. One of the representatives snidely remarked, "We should just wrap it up now! There is no way you're going to get enough signatures."   With confidence (I can imagine it was starting to dwindle) mom responded. "We shall see!" and demanded they wait until 2pm. One by one the farmers started to trickle in. Most came right from their tractors in the field still wearing their stained and dirty overalls.   Mom greeted each one with a big smile while handing them the petition to sign. They had enough signatures by 2pm to keep the St. Anthony Post Office open! Way to go mom!

In this story my mom exemplifies four core competencies that helped her succeed!  They are clarity, confidence, perseverance and passion!

• Clarity was displayed by having a clear end goal of keeping the post office open.
• Confidence in herself and her community was demonstrated when she stood up to the state representatives even when things weren't looking favorable.
• Perseverance was portrayed by her willingness to do whatever it took to make it happen even when it became discouraging and overwhelming.
• Passion was what she presented with to her community to incite them enough to leave their work in the middle of the day.

Mom was an awesome leader and I miss her every day!

Great Leaders have clarity of who they are, the direction they want to go and the results they want to accomplish.  Great Leaders are confident in their decisions and leadership.  Self-confident leaders also recognize the value of building self-confidence in others.  Great Leaders have perseverance to do what needs to be done regardless of the difficulty.  They keep on keeping on.  They continue look for ways to succeed when they hit a road block.  Leaders with Perseverance ask, what can I do now? Great Leaders have passion for what they do in life and inspire others to follow. Passion is what ignites the heart and soul.

No matter how difficult, hectic, or crazy life gets...It's always up to each one of us to decide how we will lead in our life. We have a choice in every moment of every day regardless of the situation or circumstances. I challenge you to lead your life with clarity, confidence, perseverance and passion so that you can make a difference in the things that matter most to you!

Contact Judy Kay today if you would like to learn more about how she can help your team WORK together better to build a happy healthy and high performing service culture!