Igniting Leadership: 50 Research-Based Strategies for Life and Work

By Christina DeMara

"Igniting Leadership is Engaging!"

Are you ready to take control of your life?

Are you ready to ignite change?

Are you ready to Ignite Leadership?

Fundamental leadership skills are untaught in classrooms, so as adults we are often forced to figure out how to lead successfully in the world on our own and through our personal experiences. Without any guidance, so where do you start?

How do lead in your life and work successfully?

START HERE!

Igniting Leadership is not just a book but an interactive tool to show you how to:

Understand Leadership Skills

Reflect at a Higher Level

Integrate Leadership in Life and Work

This book will give you what you need to succeed, make a real impact on your life and the lives of others, inspire you to change the world around you, and be the awesome person you were meant to be!

Intentions for Igniting Leadership:

Book Study

Lunch and Learn Tool

Mentorship Tool

• Language: English
• Publisher: DeMara-Kirby & Associates, LLC.
• Release date: May 5, 2019
• ISBN: 9781947442337

Christina DeMara

Christina is an advocate for kindness. She loves writing books, swimming, listening to worship music, learning, leading, teaching, trying new restaurants, and living life significantly.  She is the creator and author who coined the leadership theories Meaningful Leadership and Early Life Leadership in Children. Christina is a high school dropout and holds three master's degrees from the University of Texas--one in Special Education, one in Educational Administration and Leadership, and one in Curriculum and Instruction. She later studied and researched business and leadership extensively through Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas.  Christina is best known for the creativity found in her books and journals. Two of her favorite books are Early Life Leadership in Girls Workbook, and her faith-based book titled; I'm Not Broken: The Power of Prayer, Scripture, and Interactive Journaling.   

Book preview

A Letter to the Reader

Dear Appreciated Reader,

I am writing this letter to congratulate you on taking the first step to a brighter future. Leadership is all around us, and as you go through this workbook, you will learn and see how it affects your everyday life. After a lot of intense research on personality and leadership, I wanted to create something that could make a difference in life and work. Being a leader isn’t easy. Nevertheless, never give up on looking within to be the best possible you! If we want a better tomorrow, we must rise up, make a change, and do what is right! I can only hope you take this opportunity to continue to grow and explore who you are within. May God bless you.

With gratitude and warm wishes,

"If your actions inspire others

to dream more, learn more,

do more and become more,

you are a leader."

- John Quincy Adams,

U.S. President from 1825 to 1829

7 Things This Book Intends

To help individuals learn and understand leadership skills to better themselves

To create a community between individuals and their co-workers, employees, and friends in the hope of fostering healthy, productive relationships

To build leadership from within, through higher-level thinking questions

To encourage more people to consider themselves leaders

To use as a valuable tool for book studies, professional development, and lunch and learning meetings

To supplement your sense of who you are and your potential to develop and grow

To build mentorships and reinforce professional relationships with contacts, coworkers, employees, managers, and mentors

Why Igniting Leadership?

Igniting leadership is important because leadership encompasses our entire life. We aren't just leaders at work; we are leaders everywhere. When we guide, inspire, teach, train, mentor, and care for people in life and work, we are leaders. How powerful is that? One of the biggest misconceptions I see or hear is if we do not have a fancy title or position of power, we don’t consider ourselves leaders. That could not be further from the truth. Leadership is a mindset of wanting to help everyone in our path be better and wanting to share what we know. It is that simple. Being a leader doesn’t mean we know everything, but it means we care about people. We care about doing the right things. When we have that mindset, we are able to ignite the leadership skills within us.

Why Life and Work?

I often get asked by readers why I choose to address leadership in life and work. My simple response to that question is, because both are important and overlap.

Many of these leadership skills and strategies can be used equally in your personal and professional lives. We are leaders at home, work, in the community, and at church. We lead new employees, veteran employees, kids, our parents, group members, family, and customers. Embrace every leadership opportunity that crosses your path.

Reflect & Complete

Take a few minutes to reflect on your current knowledge and what you hope to learn. Once you finish the book, come back to this.

50

Research-Based

Strategies for

Life and Work

1.

Leaders See the

Good in ALL People

This one is simple! Great leaders see the good in people and acknowledge that everyone has something to bring to the table.

Why is this important?

We don’t always get along with everyone. We don’t always agree with those we love or work with but being able to see the good in people keeps us positive and is the right thing to do.

Something to Think About

Seeing the bad in people is easy. Seeing the good in people, even when it’s difficult, takes confidence, leadership, and courage.

- Christina DeMara

Recommendation:

Think about someone you may have disagreed with in the past, whether they are a coworker/employee, family member, or friend, and list their positive attributes.

Igniting Reflection

Use the space provided below to list three of the most influential leaders you know, as well as the skills or qualities they possess that enable them to lead effectively. What changes can you make in your personal life to better embody these qualities? These can be anyone, from athletes and politicians to mentors, pastors, parents, and even former teachers.

2.

Leaders

Give Feedback

When we give each other feedback, we recognize the accomplishments of others. A leader’s effective praise and constructive criticism can help others recognize the good they have done and guide them toward behaviors, performances, or habits that need to be changed.

Why is this important?

The key to feedback is making sure your response helps the other person move forward. When we give feedback, we are learning how to value the information of others and contributing to an open, communicative work or home environment. We’re also silently saying, I hear you and have given thought to your valuable information.

Something to Think About

"We all need people who will give us feedback.

That's how we improve."

-Bill