#LeadershipTuesdays: Seizing Opportunity

"If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade." 

--Tom Peters

On Tuesdays, womenatliberty.com presents #LeadershipTuesdays, a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage and strengthen women leaders. Opportunity. We all want to get good opportunities and no bad ones. Good opportunities are ones that we are happy to receive. Ones where we believe that we can be successful. Bad opportunities invoke fear and dread in us and we believe that the outcome will not be worth our time or effort. We certainly don't believe that they will yield a successful outcome.

But what if we did not let fear or comfortability drive our decision? What if we put more value on how much we will learn, grow and contribute in the situation we are considering. It's easier to shrink away from challenges and situations that make us feel uncomfortable. However, l believe that leaders take on challenges, gain valuable experiences that they can share with others and grow their capacity to lead and function in a multitude of situations. Take the challenge and step out of the shade and your comfort zone. Open the window, pull up the shade and seize a new opportunity.






Follow #LeadershipTuesdays on Twitter, @LeadershipTues, to see daily posts with resources that help you develop and strengthen your leadership skills. Happy #LeadershipTuesday!

An Example Of Faith and Grace...Jimmy Carter

When asked how he felt about his recent cancer diagnosis, former President Jimmy Carter stated:

"I'm perfectly at ease with whatever comes. I do have deep religious faith, which I'm very grateful for, and I was pleasantly surprised that -- that I didn't go into an attitude of despair or anger or anything like that. I was just completely at ease. I have been very grateful for that part of it. So I'm -- I'm ready for anything and looking forward to a new adventure."

--Jimmy Carter, 39th President of the United States

Always Believe In Your Possibilities...Richelle E. Goodrich

“You may be the only person left who believes in you, but it's enough. It takes just one star to pierce a universe of darkness. Never give up.” 

--Richelle E. Goodrich, Smile Anyway: Quotes, Verse, & Grumblings for Every Day of the Year

 

Take The Challenge and Go For It!...Terrie M. Williams

"You’ll be pathetic or flatline for the rest of your life if you don’t. Thank God that you’re scared, because it means that right before you is something that’s going to take your game to the next level. So go for it. Listen to your inner voice and treat everyone the same. You never know in what disguise God is coming to you."

--Terrie M. Williams, Public Relations Strategist, Author, Inspirational Speaker, Therapist and Philanthropist.

http://terriewilliams.com

Hope Sings And Never Stops...Emily Dickinson

Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all.

--Emily Dickinson

In The Right Place? Stand Firm...Abraham Lincoln

“Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.”

-- Abraham Lincoln 

Photo: President Lincoln's Cottage, Washington, DC

Never Lose Hope...Martin Luther King Jr.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
 
 --Martin Luther King, Jr.

Dare To Believe!

Excellence has always been achieved by those who dare to believe that something inside them is superior than the circumstances.

—Unknown

The Greatest Things In Life...Lao Tzu

Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.

--Lao Tzu

You Are Wonderful...Ben Carson

“If you hear how wonderful you are often enough, you begin to believe it, no matter how you try to resist it.” 

--Ben Carson, M.D., Noted Neurosurgeon and Author

For Those Who Believe...Stuart Chase

“For those who believe, no proof is necessary. For those who don't believe, no proof is possible.”

--Stuart Chase

Don't Be Controlled By Your Feelings...Valorie Burton

You don't have to be controlled by your feelings. You are going to doubt yourself sometimes. You'll feel insecure sometimes. But feeling insecure and acting on that insecurity are two separate issues.

--Valorie Burton, Life Coach, Speaker and Author (@valorieburton on Twitter)

Leadership Tuesdays: Think You're All That...Toni Blackman

"We don't want people to think that we think we're all that. And I say, 'think you're all that'!"

 --Toni Blackman, Artist, Cultural Ambassador, Founder of Rhyme like a Girl & Freestyle Union, and A Dove® Real Woman Role Model

http://www.toniblackman.com

Every other Tuesday, WOMEN AT LIBERTY provides a platform for a variety of voices and resources to develop, encourage, and strengthen women leaders. Today, Leadership Tuesdays presents Toni L. Blackman, a poet, rap artist, and self-described "international champion of hip hop culture." Her commitment to use her craft to create cultural change led the United States Department of State to select her as an American Cultural Specialist. Ms. Blackman travelled around the world lecturing, conducting workshops and performing works that challenged and condemned violence against women and promoted self esteem among women and girls. 

Blackman founded the Freestyle Union, a New York-based organization for hip hop artists and rappers that uses free-style rapping to promote social responsibility. As an artist, she has shared the stage with Erykah Badu, Mos Def, The Roots, Wu Tang Clan, GURU, Bahamadia, Boot Camp Clic, Me’Shell NdegeoCello, Sarah McLachlan, Sheryl Crow, Jill Sobule and Rickie Lee Jones.

As a scholar and educator, Toni developed and lauched a program called, "I Rhyme Like A Girl" to build self esteem and empower young girls by using creative tools such as poetry, lyrics and performance. Further, this Echoing Green and Open Society Institute (Soros Foundation) Fellow has done an extensive amount of work with the Girl Scouts of America and was instrumental in launching “The Girls Hip Hop Project” at the Center for Cultural Exchange in Portland, Maine (a program that provides workshops for teen girls from the Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea and many other places). Her latest efforts are as a teaching artist at Brooklyn Communication Arts & Media High School (BCAM) where she teaches “The Art of Emceeing”.
 
In 2012, Toni was selected as a Dove® role model. With a goal of promoting self esteem and inspiring women and girls to reach their full potential, Dove® is highlighting real women role models who "should be famous". To see her powerful and inspiring story, click here. For more information on Leadership Tuesdays, see here.

To Those Who Dare To Believe...Bruce Barton

Nothing splendid has ever been achieved except by those who dared believe that something inside of them was superior to circumstance. ~Bruce Barton

You Have An Obligation...Michelle Obama

"You have an obligation to see each setback as a challenge and as an opportunity to learn and grow.  You have an obligation to face whatever life throws your way with confidence and with hope."  --First Lady Michelle Obama, Spelman College Commencement, May 2011

Source:  Essence.com

For the entire text of the speech, check WOMEN AT LIBERTY's Women History Makers-DC, MD, & VA  Facebook Page or whitehouse.gov.