Sonya Warewe entered the party, we noticed a guy who stood out. He h ad long hair
th at h ad been processed with a chemical relaxer. He was dressed very
nice and his shirt seemed to be unbuttoned to his navel.
He a sked me to dance and I am not afraid to try what o thers will not
(within reason, of course). We started to dance; he would make a ce rtain
move and I would follow his l ead. We were looking good on the dance
floor. Suddenly his moves became more exaggerated and I followed
su it. Before long, everyone gather ed around, clapped and cheered as we
danced. I thought to myself, “What if I can’t keep up with him?” He
must have seen the look on my face and he leaned in and sang,
“Don’t get scared until I get scared.” I burst into laughter and begin
to relax and to lean in.
The same is true for life, give it your best shot, bring in your talent,
rustle up some boldness, and live completely. Learn to take life by the
reigns and “ lean in.”
WRIGHT
How did you begin your career in speaking and why did you choose
fearless leadership as your main topic?
WARE
I started speaking when I was about fourteen years old. I gr ew up in
the Baptist church and if you couldn’t sing or usher you were invisible. I
literally asked God to show me what my gifts were because we’d learned
in Sunday school that everybody has a gift. Shortly ther eafter, I was
as ked to do a brief talk and expound on the program theme and the
rest is history. My calendar was chock full with church speaking
pr esentations. I went from there to Toastmasters and leadership
positions that required me to address global staff around the world.
Speaking has always been something that was there from the beginning
and an answer to a prayer to learn of my gifts.
I chose the topic of fearlessness because at the time it was what I
needed most as I stepped away from corporate America to becom e an
entrepreneur. I didn’t grow up with “a silver spoon in my mouth” or
lots of money in my bank account, so I didn’t have anything to fall back
on. The fearless leader characteristics are applicable to any journey