Introducing Myself to Leadership

KS
KS
Nov 7 ¡ 3 min read

My name is Kristin and I am a leader in training 😅. Only, after I graduated with my undergraduate degree did the thoughts of leadership really start popping up. Not frequently, actually quite infrequently… But often enough that I started thinking of my how I used it in my own life.

Before this year, the only leadership I had anything to do with was with my relationship with my horses. I wouldn’t kid myself and say that I was 100% the leader of those animals, but there was a mutual respect. They knew who was the “boss”, only because I would ask what they were capable of and comfortable with.

This year, I have become more aware of my leadership skills with people as I enter the world of business. I’ve noticed that I am not one to be direct and in control in the beginning. But once I become comfortable in a situation I am more apt to step up. In all reality though, when it comes to leadership, I probably don’t have much yet. I’m more of a lead by example, than give directions type of person. I’ve found that people come to me to talk through their troubles. If that’s a good or bad thing I’m not sure yet…

I grew up in a family of strong male and female leads. All of them I admire and look up to as leaders in their personal and professional lives. My grandpa, Lloyd, was one of the smartest men I knew. He excelled at everything he put his mind to in the business world. Papa, as we all lovingly called him, was a man who stuck by his beliefs and knew how to hold his ground on those beliefs. He was tough, but only because he knew everyone’s potential for greatness. He was someone people aspired to be and one they looked up to. He went from Texaco, to becoming an engineer in Bell Helicopter Textron Canada, to becoming the president and CEO of Bell Helicopter Textron. He was at Bell from 1964 to 1997. From Bell, he went on to become one of the chairmen of eight John Deere dealerships in south Texas. He inspired all he talked to and there wasn’t one area of business that he couldn’t talk about to anyone who was willing to listen. He was all of those things, while also being an amazing father, husband and grandfather.

As Arizona Robbins said, “He was a good man in a storm”.

Lloyd Shoppa

Through starting in the family business I am starting to see there is much to know. If, for right now, I had to choose one thing to take to my work it would be being respectable to everyone that works in the company. I hope that I am already, but I also know that by me being respectable to all, that I could set an example for others to do the same.

Continuous growth is something I look forward to as I grow older. I know right around every corner is something that I can learn and bring to my work or personal life. Hopefully I can learn and grow to become as much of an inspirational leader as the people are in my family!

Some ideas for my project:

Doing something with horses/pets, videos/pictures on a website. Creating an instagram page? Doing something with coworkers? Make it into a video story?

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade