This Presidential Inauguration Day is a monumental moment in our nation’s history.  A senator, who many of us hadn’t heard of just two years ago, has risen to the greatest position of leadership and power in our land.  President Obama’s rise was largely fueled by voters through internet social-networking and internet fund-raising, a breakthrough that I believe is as remarkable as overcoming his multicultural/African-American background.  Obama is not only our first honored African-American President; but, he is our “FIRST INTERNET PRESIDENT,” who is authentically in-tune with the internet’s power and capacity to elicit and engage the American people.

With today’s economic challenges, MULTIPLE LEADERS will be required to rise… to support the progress and success of our nation’s businesses –both big and small.  Leadership in all industries will be needed to problem-solve, create and innovate.

Engaging in INTERNET COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES helps to maximize the outreach and impact needed for such leadership.  What leadership philosophies and strategies can we apply for success?  What characteristics and actions can we take as PRESIDENTS OF OUR OWN BUSINESSES?  The following are quotes for inspiration:

1. “Good leaders are made, not born.”

Make an effort to be a leader… to create your own unique but effective brand of leadership. Learn, practice and grow, while making a conscious effort to understand the true nature of leadership and it’s multiple forms.  No two leaders are the same… but, a common denominator is in the ability to convey a vision and inspire people under that vision.

2. “Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.” -Peter F. Drucker

Be highly aware of your values –and what the “right thing to do” (for your organization and clients) is…  Like a star, use it as a guide for continual improvement for a better future.

3. “All of the great leaders have had one characteristic in common: it was the willingness to confront unequivocally the major anxiety of their people in their time. This, and not much else, is the essence of leadership.” — John Kenneth Galbraith

Identify how you can help provide solutions… valuable and unique ways you can problem-solve and build confidence where it is most needed.

4. “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself.  When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.” — Jack Welch

To encourage and stimulate growth within and ultimately around you, is true leadership.

5. “The task of the leader is to get his people from where they are to where they have not been.” — Henry Kissinger

With confidence, persuasion and vision, a leader achieves new innovation.

6. “Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate, and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” —General Colin Powell

Leadership involves a clarity of communication that connects with people.

7. “The task of leadership is not to put greatness into people, but to elicit it, for the greatness is there already.” — John Buchan

Nurture and harness the potential for greatness within your organizational team and your customers; it’s about empowerment.

8. “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” —Max DePree

Deal with the reality of “what is” and appreciate your role “in service” of others.

9. “Management is efficiency in climbing the ladder of success; leadership determines whether the ladder is leaning against the right wall.” —Stephen R. Covey

Know where you are and where you are headed, with the right structure and vision supporting you.

10. “I am reminded how hollow the label of leadership sometimes is and how heroic followership can be.”  —Warren Bennis

Leadership is nothing without followers who dynamically help create and fuel the dream.

On this Inauguration Day, pledge to embrace your own leadership… SEEING it, UNDERSTANDING it and DOING IT!