I believe we need leaders who actually want to lead everyone.
Interpretation
True leadership involves a genuine desire to represent and uplift all people.
Stacey Abrams emphasizes the importance of authentic leadership, suggesting that effective leaders must genuinely care about the well-being of all individuals they represent, rather than pursuing power for its own sake. This call for inclusive leadership advocates for a style of governance that prioritizes community interests and collective progress over personal ambition.
In practice
In a political speech to rally supporters, one might quote Stacey Abrams to emphasize the importance of servant leadership.
I grew up one of six children with working-class parents in the Deep South. My mother was a college librarian, and my father worked in a shipyard. I never saw them balance a checkbook, but they kept a roof over our heads and got all six of us into college.
I do not Google myself, I do not read comments, and I barely look myself in the eye when I look in the mirror.
My being a black woman is not a deficit. It is a strength. Because I could not be where I am had I not overcome so many other barriers. Which means you know I'm relentless, you know I'm persistent, and you know I'm smart.
The basis for sustainable progress is legal protections grounded in an awareness of how identity has been used to deny opportunity.
I like to solve problems. I know it is a skill set, but it's also an obligation. I grew up with parents who believe that you don't simply complain: you try to find solutions and fix what's in front of you.
Here in Georgia, we continue to grapple with our own vestiges of hate. The image carved into Stone Mountain, like Confederate monuments across this state, stand as constant reminders of racism, intolerance, and division.
We know where most of the creativity, the innovation, the stuff that drives productivity lies-in the minds of those closest to the work. It's been there in front of our noses all along while we've been running around chasing robots and reading books on how to become Japanese-or at least manage like them.
When we say that leadership is a choice, it basically means you can choose the level of initiative you want to exercise in response to the question, βWhat is the best I can do under the given circumstances?β
One man with a gun can control 100 without one.
If you want to coach you have three rules to follow to win. One, surround yourself with people who can't live without football. I've had a lot of them. Two, be able to recognize winners. They come in all forms. And, three, have a plan for everything. A plan for practice, a plan for the game. A plan for being ahead, and a plan for being behind 20-0 at half, with your quarterback hurt and the phones dead, with it raining cats and dogs and no rain gear because the equipment man left it at home.
We have to ask ourselves if we have become so focused on supporting personal choices that we're failing to encourage women to aspire to leadership.
The word must is not to be used to princes.
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