(Taken from Daily Om)

If you have ever seen a flock of geese fly overhead, you know how difficult it is to tell who is leading whom. The geese move in swift syncopation as if they are all responding instantaneously to the same cues, tapped into an unseen force that directs and guides their movement as one. It is the same way with wild horses or a herd of buffalo. Yet in all these cases, there is a leader who has established his position through demonstrations of strength, ability, and dominance. The total cohesiveness of these groups is a symbol both of excellent leadership and an excellent ability to follow. It takes both of these qualities for any group or system to work well.

In human communities, it is not always easy to establish who should be leading and who following. There are many reasons for this, including but not limited to the fact that our ways of determining leadership are less instinctual and therefore less clear. It is very rare that everyone is in complete agreement as to who should lead. In the big picture, of course, competition is a positive factor, preventing stagnation and entrenchment. However, in smaller groups, when a leader is truly called to the position and her constituency is responsive to her leadership, an enormous amount of work can be accomplished. This tends to work only if the individuals in the group share a powerful, heartfelt common goal. This goal is the unseen force that directs and guides the group so that they can move as one.

A flock of geese winging in unison across the sky can serve to remind us of what we can accomplish when we surrender to the greater good. When any group of people moves as one, there is a leader at the helm who has sacrificed his or her individual ego to the larger vision of the group and followers who have done the same. When the ego is subdued, it is easier to sense the right way to go and correctly choose the leader who can best take us there. Like a flock of geese, we move swiftly and harmoniously toward our shared vision.

Rhonda and I went to college together. We knew each other, but we weren't what you would call friends. We had mutual friends in common, stayed in the same dorm and pledged different sororities. The probability was very high that after graduation, we might not have ever seen one another again...until facebook.

Earlier last year, we connected on facebook. We remarked on one another's page for "big events," I watched as she had her first baby and she watched as I had my third child. We realized that her husband was from Columbia, Maryland (where I live now).

Rhonda came to town last week for business and we connected at Nordstrom for lunch. We had a great time and that it when it dawned on me the beauty of facebook. It allows you to meet, keep up with or strengthen your relationships.

As small business owners, I know how busy you get. Many of you are using social media to strengthen your business and personal relationships...and for those of you who are not, I encourage you to do so! There is a whole world waiting for you...literally! 

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The first time I noticed her, she was sitting in a chair staring at me and I couldn't figure out why. Every time I looked up, I noticed her look at me and quickly look away... as I started placing my books in the back of Peyton's stroller and began to wonder, does this woman think I'm about to steal these books?

Really?

I decided to ignore her and finish my business at hand...checking out 10 books I had sampled on my Kindle and didn't want to purchase. As I was walking to the counter, she said, "what do you think of that book?" "Which one," I asked and she pointed to a "diet" book in my hand.  As I answered her, it dawned on me that she didn't think I was stealing at all, she was just interested in my reading material.

I answered her question and little did I know that it was the prologue to one of the most interesting conversations I'd had in ages.

Her name was Ruth...Ruth Pollack.

Ruth is everything I want to be when I grow up. Intelligent. Funny. Well-traveled. And wonderful to be around. We talked about her months spent in Italy. Spain. The South of France. We talked about food. Marriage. Children. Living life.

When I told her I was "dying to get to Italy," she said you mean, " you are living to get to Italy."

Then, the conversation finally got around to her age...80! I truly was blown away. She was FIERCE. And the best part is, she didn't start traveling the world until she ws 68 years old.

 At the conclusion of our conversation, I asked her could I take her picture. She asked why and I told her I was going to blog about her. She wasn't familiar with the blog and asked how she was going to get to see the picture/blog...I asked her if we could meet for coffee at Barnes & Nobles and she agreed. So Ruth and I have a date soon (stay tuned for The Book of Ruth Part 2) and to be honest, I couldn't be more excited about it.

Ruth reminded me of so many things:

• It is never too late to get started LIVING
• You never know who you are going to meet so stay open
• "Humor is like the bubbles in life's champage!" ... Ruth taught me that
• Life is as great as you make it...be adventerous
• Stop speculating on what others think about you...you are usually wrong!

Did you know as a mom, you are the single biggest influence in your daughter life? Not just for the obvious reasons, but because the same sex parents' influence trumps everyone else's. So, as a woman entrepreneur, you have your work really cut out for you. Not only are you trying to run an authentic, successful and profitable business, you have an audience over there watching your every move. Tell me, what is your daughter picking up from you? Is she seeing your fearlessness as you tackle the obstacles that appear in your (hourly/daily and weekly) way? Or, does she see (and feel) your trepidation and hesitation as you make decisions.

I truly believe that parenting is the hardest job you will ever have. It by far trumps being an entrepreneur because you are now in the business of shaping another human being, and that's heavy stuff right there. But often as entrepreneurs, we become so engrossed in our daily tasks of getting our business to the point of thriving and then "maintaining," that we forget we have another monumental job that requires our attention.

Below are a few strategies to make sure you make the most of the lessons from your entrepreneurial journey. May your daughter inherit your guts, balls and glory!

1. Talk to her about your fears. Share with her some of the hard decisions you have had to make and what the outcome has been. Let hew know that you have been scared out of the seat of your pants...but went for it anyway. Even though the outcome may not have always been positive, so what! Let her know that you have learned to "feel the fear and do it anyway."
2. Let her know she won't always be liked. She looks adoringly up to you and just assumes that every one loves you as much as she does...you and I both know nothing could be farther from the truth. So tell her that.  Show her that as long as she likes herself, that is all that matters.
3. You will make mistakes and that's ok. She needs to see that your journey has been filled with mistakes. Big ones. Small ones. Silly ones. Embarrassing one. But who cares? You learned right? You didn't repeat them right? Well, that all that counts. If she can learn that early, it will save her a lifetime of heartache.
4. She has the right to change her mind. Let her know it is ok to realize later that you know longer want something. She doesn't have to hold on to an idea, concept, friend, boyfriend or anything else when it passes her personal expiration date.
5. She will always have support. Push her to discover who she is. Let her see and experience the joy you feel as you build your business and legacy and let her see through your actions that there is nothing more important that connecting with your greater purpose and pursuing it with reckless abandon! It's in her genes after all.

Striving for excellence motivates you; striving for perfection is demoralizing.
- Harriet Braiker