I watched Barack Obama’s acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention. His campaign rhetoric “change” and “yes we can” interests me a great deal, but maybe not for the same reason as others. There is no question he has the ability to inspire masses and spark hope in the heart, mind, or spirit of the American people.

I observed closely as he eloquently referred to America’s Promise and laid out his plan. When he emphatically stated, “Enough!" I couldn’t agree more, but enough of what?

Now my passion was evoked and I wondered how long we will go on thinking real change will occur by electing a new leader? What needs to change is not the leader in power, though that is a very good idea in the moment, but to change the world view of leadership that abdicates power and responsibilty for your life to the circumstances or a person in a particular position. Worse yet, that great leadership is the innate ability of only a chosen few.

When Senator Obama said, “This campaign is not about me, it’s about you.” I nodded my head. The door opened to ask the "Big WHY - REAL Change" questions. 

I'll reiterate the premise of the Leadership Garden metaphor. To lead means "guide and direct." A leader is a person or thing that leads. Leadership is the action a leader takes.

The leader of a plant is the primary shoot from which everything blossom. Like a plant,  your leader is your heart, mind and spirit working in unison to sprout your unique purpose and aim. And we all know what happens when we stem plant's leader before its has a chance to bloom.

Which leads me back to my question. Do you “wonder how you” grow your Leadership Garden to thrive, or merely survive where you will experience more of the same, regardless of who ends up in the White House? The clues lie in your answers to these two sets of questions. Pick at least one category, in bold, question in each set to answer:

Set One:

• As a government official, WHY wouldn't you empower citizens to reclaim their power, focus their energy, and inspire their passion to lead a life that makes the difference they desire?

• As a CEO or small business owner, WHY wouldn’t you empower your employees to develop and enhance their skills, direct their energy, and inspire their passion to fulfill your company vision and goals?

• As a faith leader, WHY wouldn’t you empower the members of your congregation to discover the power of their unique leader within?

• As a school administrator, WHY wouldn’t you empower your faculty, staff, and students to learn, grow, and sprout their unique talents and gifts?

• As a parent, WHY wouldn’t you empower your children to thrive as the one and only true leader of their life with a unique purpose and aim?

• As a human being on this planet, WHY wouldn’t you own your power to choose to lead your life with love, purpose, and passion to make the difference you desire?

Set Two:

• As citizen, WHY would a governmental official want to empower me to reclaim my power, focus my energy, and inspire my passion to make the difference I desire. What difference would that make to me, my family, my community, and my country?

• As an employee, WHY would my boss want to empower me to develop and enhance my skills, direct my energy, and inspire my passion to fulfill the company vision and goals? What difference would that make to my company, co-workers, and family?

• As a memberof my congregation, WHY would my faith leader want to empower me to discover the power of my unique leader within? What difference would that make to help strengthen me and our congregation's ability to live by, and be true to, our faith?

• As faculty, staff, or student in an educational setting, WHY would the administration want to empower me to learn, grow, and sprout my unique talents and gifts? What difference would that make to our global future?

• As a child, WHY would my parents want to empower me to thrive as the one and only true leader of my life with a unique purpose and aim? What difference would that make in my life, my future, and the world around me?

• As a human being, WHY would I want the power to choose and accept responsibility to lead my life with love, purpose, and passion to make the difference I desire? What difference could I make on the planet?

Your answers may differ depending upon your vantage point, circumstances, and leadership view. In this exercise, did you play the leadership blame game or the leadership empowerment game? Did you find a difference in how you responded in each set?

Regardless of which you played, blame or empowerment, the time is NOW for the view of leadership to change. I continue to offer this simple organic view of leadership as the promise for a thriving planetary future. Why? It shifts the responsibility and power back to individual, so we can begin to frame new questions and discover new solutions to the problems we face. Senator Obama mentioned the need for individual and mutual responsibility and finding common ground. So where is common ground? In the heart of your Leadership Garden. 

The truth about change and blame is that no leader, under any circumstance, can cause change in you without your willingness to change and choose to become 100% responsible for your thoughts, feelings, and behavior. Therefore, whose to blame?

If you have answered these questions, now you can answer the Big WHY - "wonder how you" grow your Leadership Garden to cause REAL change. U.N.I.Q.U.E.: Growing the Leader Within is tool to guide you. You will reclaim your power to choose and be responsible for who you follow, when you follow, and how you follow - so what you follow empowers and inspires your leader within to make the difference you desire.

I am curious hear your answers to these set of questions and which leadership game you played during this exercise?