Being classy means being a good leader as well

Good evening ladies and gentlemen seriously.  Seems fitting that this classy lady would be posting while watching the Red Carpet and getting ready for the Oscars (MY FAVORITE).  I am such a dork about fashion so this is amazing.

SO happy to report another Anti Valentines Day Pub Crawl is in the books.  And while we only made it to two bars, we had such a GREAT time.  Our party has grown each year and this year, I think we had about 20 people at one point.  While all of the ladies and gentlemen were pretty seriously in the bag, everyone acted appropriately, dancing and singing and seriously being the life of the party.  So thanks to all for a great time.  And I might have kissed a cute boy as well.  ;)

As many of you know, I volunteer for my amazing sorority, Gamma Phi Beta.  In addition to being a regional director for region 8 (Northwest states), I also am a part of the Presentation Team.  So I get an opportunity to present and facilitate sessions for our collegiate chapter leaders.  First and foremost, I get to work with awesome ladies to actually do the presenting.  Second, I get a chance to interact with our leaders of tomorrow.

And of course, having been a volunteer leader for the organization for 10+ years and presenting to our current leaders got me to thinking about how to be a classy leader.  I have had an opportunity to a a leader of my own business as well.  And there are many actions I see ladies and gentlemen do that make me crazy as a leader.  And so I thought I would share my list of actions that a classy lady can take to be a good leader.

1. IT'S NOT ABOUT YOU!  Sometimes I think about my leadership positions, and I simply don't understand what I do... honestly.  My team does all the work.  Leaders that make success about them...are not leaders.  WOW, this is a hot button issue for me.  
2. Transparency.  The best thing that you can do is share as much as possible.  While I was running my own business, I shared all of my numbers, revenue, etc with my team...all members, paid and volunteers.  And it is very important for people to feel a part of the team if they feel they have all of the information, EVEN if it isn't imperative for them to complete their job.
3. Humility and Vulnerability.  Your team needs to know that you are not perfect, sharing your failures and times in your life when things weren't perfect, make you human and more relatable. As women, many times we are expected to be SUPER MOM or SUPER WOMAN or both and we find it challenging to admit that we aren't.  We get by with a little help from our friends.
4. Don't take yourself too seriously.  Have Fun.  Your team or your audience is much more interested in you, if you can poke a little fun at yourself.  You will lose people if you are too dry, get people involved in the presentation - facilitate, don't talk at them.
5. Re-read action number one.

Please know that I am certainly not an expert on the subject. But I felt compelled to share after spending a few weekends facilitating these conferences.  Being a classy leader is something that I am very passionate about, so ladies and gentlemen seriously...take it for what its worth.

Enjoy the Oscars.  Very soon I will be leaving for Dubai and the Maldives for 10 days.  A very tough part of my of my job, I know, try not to feel sorry for me.

...keep your chin, heels and standards high...

BONSOIR, CHEERS AND CIAO BELLAS!