I believe we all carry within us the capability to be great leaders and I also believe that marriage can be a platform to learning outstanding leadership skills.  This article is to help us understand the opportunities we have as a spouse to invoke those skills while learning to serve one another.

I've recently had the privilege of speaking to couples who have been married more than 50 years to ask what they felt contributed to the strength of their marriages. I wanted to show that we are all capable of being leaders, and to make the choice to do so is sometimes enough. 

I also wanted to share their love, their leadership and their lives together as a couple to encourage each of us to be enough in our own way to our spouses. 

Does it take more than serving others to be a great leader?  You tell me...

Although there are plenty of good books that have been published on the subject of marriage I found this particular perspective shared by Robert Kieling, of North Carolina very apropos to marriage and leadership.  

• "Always remember that as humans, we are not perfect.  We ALL make mistakes." 
• "Be tolerant, patient and forgiving."
• "Show love by deed and actions, don't just say it."
• "Be humorous, not a clown, but bring out laughter." 
• "Banter with one another, it keeps the levity going."
• "Be affectionate, considerate, caring and giving."

This was my personal favorite:

• "Remember the qualities in your loved one that brought you to the alter in the first place.  Work at keeping those feelings in front of you always without taking one another for granted.  After 50 years, I still do windows, help plant flowers and take out the garbage."

Bob hasn't invented anything new he says, nor does he have a secret potion, he simply believes that it's just being with each other with no "false fronts" that created the strength in their marriage. 

Imagine if each of us had these leadership skills ingrained in us; what a different kind of world we would have.

Make a commitment to serve and lead in your marriage, in your community and in your workplace.  Perhaps learning to be a great leader simply means you too can say, "I've loved another with all my heart and soul, and to me, this has always been enough."