Where Do You Lead From? -By Ian Love-Jones

Where Do You Lead From?

Odd Fellows build and maintain programs, speak publicly, coordinate charity, and hold together the connection and direction of their chosen-family. All of that means that Odd Fellows are in unique positions to learn, practice, and demonstrate leadership.

Ponder this my friends, where do you lead from, as an Odd Fellow?

To be clear, I’m not asking for the name of your town, or the address of your home lodge. I’m also not asking whether you lead from a specific office, or committee, as worthy of respect as those ranks and stations may be.

What I’m asking you to ponder is, with all titles stripped away, how do you, as a member of our community, position your mind, heart, and spirit when you demonstrate leadership.

Do you lead by example – modeling the vulnerability needed for humans to learn about and connect with one another?

Do you lead from a position of openness – staying approachable, and welcoming the chance to share knowledge, encouragement, and meaningful acts of kindness?

Do you lead from a position of humility – admitting what you don’t know, but showing authentic willingness to learn?

Perhaps you lead from a position of watchfulness – identifying the strengths of your teammates, and creating pathways for others to shine.

Or maybe you lead from a position of empathy – giving thoughtful effort to the many ways of making our Odd family feel heard, safe, and empowered, as consistently as possible.

Have you found other ways to position yourself that inspire, connect, or nurture?

As a Sergeant in my professional past life, I wore many patches identifying my organization, rank, and station. With that said, I was known to tell my new recruits that their most important identifier, throughout their career, would always be their name patch.

Our reputations, earned daily through action, are the foundation of successful leadership – if we position ourselves in consistent alignment with caring, and integrity.

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