Leaders understand that their own vitality determines the vitality of their followers. Leaders also acknowledge that the followers will never go any further than their leader. Leaders know that they must set examples of honesty, consistency and commitment in their endeavors and relationships. Leaders establish high standards of themselves, of others, of work, and of those values that shape their lives and the lives of those around them. Leaders display congruency between what they value, what they say, and what they do.
Leaders believe that what they are going to be tomorrow, they are actively becoming today.
Leadership skills do not happen by chance. Leaders are people who make the commitment to learn skills, acquire knowledge and develop behaviors necessary to excel. Dentistry offers the opportunity to accumulate the material, financial and emotional rewards you dreamed of in dental school. Those rewards will be in direct proportion to the investment you make in developing yourself as a leader. Brenda Barbour is a consultant and practice coach with Fortune Management in San Diego, California.