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A weed takes little effort to survive in a garden, yet thechoice to grow a thriving garden requires the synergy of

the heart, mind, and spirit with purpose and aim.—Debra J. Slover

Lesson 1Leadership Garden ®

Li e begins as a seed that grows roots and a leader that has the potential to sproutpersonal greatness. Roots grow rom your amily and your own li e experiences. In gar-

dening, the leader is the stem—the primary shoot o a plant that will eventually producefowers or ruits. Your leader is your mind, heart, and spirit. Like plants, each person is aleader waiting to sprout. Once it has blossomed, the leader inside you re-sows the seeds o greatness and distributes them in the gardens o others.

Your body is the soil o your Leadership Garden, where the heart, mind, and spirit

grow. The mind creates thoughts; the logic and reasoning you use to interpret the world.Your heart elicits physical responses to eelings, emotions, and passion. Your spirit nurturesthe values, conscience, attitudes, and principles that provoke your thoughts, actions, andpurpose.

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The root o the word “leadership” is lead, which means to guide and direct. Your leaderguides and directs your li e and the actions you take that convey your leadership. To growa Leadership Garden, the heart, mind, and spirit connect to plant and nurture the seedso your best purpose and aim. Without purpose and aim, weeds can overrun your li e and

your Leadership Garden will be smothered and die.In Leadership Gardens, two di erent conditions a ect the growth o a leader. Asur-

vival conditionallows the growth o weeds, tenacious plants with deep taproots. Theseweeds diminish personal power and enable gossip, blame, and victimization. A thriving con-dition promotes vigorous, fourishing, and expansive growth, rooted in a strong mesh-likenetwork o understanding and nurturing the inventive quality o an unstoppable expres-sion o leadership.

You cannot always control the circumstances o your li e, but you can always choosehow you respond to them. When you want your garden to thrive, rather than be smotheredby weeds, you choose to pull your weeds and plant new seeds that empower you.

A thriving Leadership Garden relies upon the empowermentand engagemento yourunique legacy. In this context, empowerment means to endow with ability; engagementmeans to put into action; and a legacy is the way o thinking and behaving handed down

rom your ancestors and created by li e experiences. The truth is, you already empower andengage your leadership legacy. But is it the one you truly desire?

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Lesson 1: Leadership Garden

Exercise 1: Empower and Engage

A) Make a list o at least three things that you don’t currently have and want. It could be something you want to do, obtain, or experience as a eeling that relates to anyarea o your li e.

What I Want in My Li e:

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B) Make a list o at least three things that you currently have that you don’t want.Again, it could be something you do, have, or experience as a eeling that relatesto any area o your li e.

What I Don’t Want in My Li e:

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Lesson 1: Leadership Garden

C) Describe below a di fcult relationship or situation where you used survival leader-ship or walked away:

State your thoughts regarding that relationship or situation. Below are some examples toget you started. Use only those that apply to you:I’m too ________________________________________________________________I only ________________________________________________________________They don’t _____________________________________________________________I can’t _________________________________________________________________They are_______________________________________________________________I should _______________________________________________________________

They shouldn’t __________________________________________________________It’s not ________________________________________________________________

Ask yoursel i these statements empower a thriving leadership condition.Write yes or no beside each statement. Cross out the “no” statements andcircle the “yes” statements to use as a reminder or the next lesson. 9

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D) Describe below a di fcult relationship or situation where you used thriving leader-ship and turned it around:

State your thoughts regarding that relationship or situation. Below are some examples toget you started. Use only those that apply to you:

I did __________________________________________________________________I elt __________________________________________________________________I thought ______________________________________________________________I can __________________________________________________________________They are_______________________________________________________________I should _______________________________________________________________They can ______________________________________________________________It is ___________________________________________________________________

Ask yoursel i these statements empower a thriving leadership condition. Write yes or nobeside each statement. Cross out the “no” statements and circle the “yes” statements to useas a reminder or the next lesson.

Please note: As you continue through the rest o the exercises, eel ree to go back to therst two pages o this exercise and add to the list o what you want or don’t want in your

li e.

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