Leaders Care

"If you don't care, why should they?"—Jacquelynne Reaves

"If you don't like something, change it.  If you can't change it, change your attitude."—Maya Angelou

These two quotes, in my mind go together, and even though they don’t have the word leadership in them, I believe they show both sides of a leader.  For example, a leader should care about what they do or else how are others supposed to follow them by caring for the same thing?  Also a leader should also have the courage to change something they don’t like or have a different attitude towards something they can’t change.  A leader, in my opinion, should also be a follower as well as a leader.

When I work at the shelter, Tracy—the shift leader, lets us know what needs to be done and then she, herself, goes about helping with another part of the shelter.  She is a very understanding person and cares about the animals around her, so in my opinion she is following Reaves’ quote because I can tell she cares, so it’s easier for me to care about and for the animals.  Considering I’m an animal person, seeing someone with the same amount of, if not more, affection towards the animals as I do that helps me want to come in every time.

An accomplishment I've had, though not big, is being about to help direct some of the new volunteers that come in because I am one of the regular volunteers on my day other than two other people.  Also another accomplishment for me is not to walk out every week with a cat or dog in my arms, though it is very tempting.  It may be a silly accomplishment, but being an animal person, it is hard—especially since there is a puppy there I want to take home with me every week.

~~Deidre R. Hardy~~

                   John 15:5