How will your life be impacted the day after the election? The answer to this question will be grounded in pure emotion. If your candidate loses, you will likely feel devastated, denied, and discouraged. If your candidate wins, you will likely feel ecstatic, elated, and encouraged. Some win, some lose.
Here is what I know. Wednesday morning, our lives will move forward. They will move forward in the community where we live, work, and play. A space and a place where we have the opportunity to make a difference. Day in and day out.
Leadership and Main
Oddly enough, the 200th post comes one day before our Presidential election. Two hundred consecutive Mondays since January 21, 2021, that either I or a guest blogger have produced content through the blog.
I am not sharing to celebrate a personal achievement, but rather to stress the timing of the milestone and the importance of the message I have for you today.
I always had the aspiration to write. As do most that share this ambition, I was going to write a book. Well…that never happened.
During the first few months of the pandemic, idle time and isolation was in abundance. Instead of writing a book, I would try to produce 800 to 1,200 words per week. Maybe one day it would turn into a book, maybe it wouldn’t. So, I tinkered with a website, put a post out on LinkedIn, announced the date of the first post, and Planted the Flag. The rest is history.
In the Beginning
Everything starts with one’s “why.” The why behind Leadership and Main was, “To inspire a generation of community leaders to turn from ordinary to extraordinary.” Community Leadership would be defined as, “The ability and willingness to use our influence to better others and the world we live in.”
I have spent nearly 25 years of my adult life and entire professional career in local government. I may be biased, but I strongly believe that leaders at the community level wield the greatest ability and awesome responsibility to positively influence Main Street America. Proximity to people is where positive impact happens!
Community Leaders
While I have been in local government for nearly twenty five years, I have been in the community leadership business for forty-two years. Not just as a leader, but a consumer of it. Most people falsely believe that you need to hold a position of significant authority to be a leader in a local community. That is not the case.
Here are the titles that community leaders carry: coach, pastor, principal, teacher, police officer, fire fighter, EMT, line worker, business owner, public servant, and volunteer. People in these positions have significantly impacted my life and I am better for it. These individuals work tirelessly and selflessly to serve our communities and make them a better place to live, work, and play.
The Challenge
The election will come and go. Be better, do better. Commit to moving forward, not backwards. Let’s not spend one more wasteful moment debating or disagreeing. Invest our time and energy where it matters…the local community. It’s where the greatest impact can be made.
An extremely select few will ever have the opportunity to serve as President of the United States, but every single one of us can serve our local communities. Our vote may not carry the election, but our service to others can Redirect Someone Else’s Journey.
Coach a team, join the PTSA, support your local American Legion or Veterans of Foreign Wars, join your local business association or Chamber of Commerce, volunteer at a senior citizen facility, lead a bible study at church, or mentor a child.
Can’t do that? Then thank a police officer, firefighter, EMT, and those who serve in our military when you come across them in public. Pay for the person’s meal behind you, give blood, donate to a local food pantry, write a thank you note to your child’s teacher, clean out your closets and donate those unused items to someone who can use them, run a 5K to support a cause, or leave a good review online to support a local business.
Can’t do that? Then be kind to your neighbors, randomly call someone that impacted your life and thank them, hold the door for others, acknowledge a stranger with a smile, or just simply believe the best in others.
Give of your time, talents, and treasures. Every effort, no matter how small, betters others and the world that you live in…your community.
Conclusion
I am grateful for those community leaders who impacted my life. I would not be the man I am today without it. I would have certainly fallen short.
I am also grateful for you, the reader of this blog. Whether you are a regular, irregular, or first-time reader…thank you. The guest bloggers that stepped in when life and leadership got too busy to keep the streak alive, thank you. My proofreader…thank you. For those that handle social media for me…thank you. To those fellow bloggers and influencers that share the Leadership and Main content…thank you. To the ones who helped me build the website when my aspirations exceeded my abilities…thank you. Those who called, texted, and responded with encouragement the day of a post…thank you. If you inspired me to write about community service because of your example…thank you.
This blog has helped me grow personally, professionally, and reach audiences I would have never thought possible. From all over the United States and even a few around the world. If the effort has inspired just one person to become active and serve in their local community…mission accomplished.
There is no day better than the day after to start bettering others and the world you live in. Get to it.
Note: Photo Credit, Trevor Beemon