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Key Takeaways Leadership starts with how you show up, not what you say.
Assumptions shrink people. Curiosity expands them.
Mentorship changes how you define success.
Most leadership advice focuses on what you should achieve. My most important leadership lessons came from those who invested in me and from those I chose to invest in. I didn’t learn them in a corner office or after a big win. I learned them through mentorship, both from those who guided me early and from the young leaders I’ve had the privilege to mentor through my nonprofit, Youth Champions.
Mentorship did more than improve my skills. It reshaped how I define success and how I develop young people. It also taught me to take action before everything feels certain. If you care about meaningful results, those shifts matter.
Related: Everyone Needs a Mentor — But Being a Mentor Is Just as Important. Here’s Why.
1. Credibility starts before you speak
The first leadership principle I learned came from my dad: never ask someone to do something you are not willing to do yourself.
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