Unleashing potential.

I am thinking about the last time I was unable to truly unleash my potential. There are many different applications to which I could unleash my potential, but I think it was the 2 winters I worked for Roxy skis. If you are not familiar, ROXY is a women’s specific company, they started off with mostly surf and clothing, and then when Quicksliver, their parent company bought 2 ski companies, Rossignol, and Dynastar, Roxy began manufacturing skis with the Roxy label. I just happened to be in the right place at the right time where the rep for Roxy asked me to be a brand ambassador. I had never really associated myself with this company, usually their ads had skinny blondes in bikins on it. But someone saw my potential to be part of this company. I was given a head to toe outfit, new skis, boots, and bindings, each year. I got this because of my skiing abilities. They wanted me to make them look good by sporting their set up. I felt my supervisors there were true leaders. They listened to my concerns about not being able to ‘fit” into the image of Roxy. I believe they did what Wheeler and Edlebeck wrote about, “leadership is about learning, listening, dreaming, and working together to unleash the potential of people’s time, talent, and treasure for the common good.” I then was able to transfer some of these qualities with some of the girls who paid to go to Roxy camp and become a better skier. With out the qualities from the leaders who helped me, I would not have been able to be a positive person in these girls lives. Sadly, when I turned 30, I was told I was too old to be a Roxy girl, but did get to help in the selection of choosing a new girls to fill my shoes..errr. ski boots. It was a great experience overall and shows how leadership qualities can be passed down to one another.