Kenton Lee is the creator of Compassion and the growing shoe. Leadership can begin as a small idea and grow into something great. Relationships are the root of everything—they create resources and networking that help you develop your mission and your leadership abilities. There is strength in connections and leaders are nothing without people—people are everything. Your job as a leader is serving people—service is noticed and makes an impression. As you serve and create communities, you must treat everyone the same regardless of who they are and where they come from. Saying “thank you” and demonstrating humility in your leadership is also important. Followers and people in general build up the leader and they are the reason for being a leader. People mean the world and are first priority. Although leadership involves being successful with people, this doesn’t mean that rejection can’t make a leader greater. When faced with rejection, perseverance is everything—with rejection comes tenacity and learning experiences. Rejection spurs perseverance and the refining of leadership characteristics. Leading something that you care about provides you with motivation to continue on. A motivating and passionate leader is often successful.
For Kenton Lee, all of his personal values and integrity created his ethical leadership. Putting people first, he was compelled to act in an ethical manner. As he saw all the poverty and need in the world, he couldn’t do anything else except want to find a solution. He saw his friend’s in need and wanted to help them—simple. He values his community, people, and friends and put them first and, therefore, put their needs first as well. Because he cares for people, it was a matter of integrity to honor his relationship with them and his value for them and take care of their needs. This led to his development of the shoe that grows, which is the biggest tangible product of his leadership thus far.
After listening to Lee’s lecture, I can apply many things to my leadership. First, I can continue to put people first because they are the most important thing—after all people are everything. Being bold in my leadership and not being afraid to ask, I can grow relationships and character. As a lead, I need to remember to be thankful to others at all times and seek to serve others and treat everyone equally through my leadership. In order to be a better leader, I will continue to nurture bonds with mentors, supporting friends and family. In order to have success, this support system vital and I need to be developing it constantly.