“You can’t stay in your corner of the forest, waiting for others to come to you; you have to go to them sometimes.” – Alan Alexander Milne, writing as Winnie the Pooh. Have you ever sat down and thought about the leader in you? Many people avoid thinking about the inner qualities they poses that makes them a good or bad leader. Most people, in fact, believe that being a good leader is just a natural trait born to those select few who are lucky enough to be chosen. Everyone needs to sit down and look at their own abilities and recognize what is helping them to achieve their leadership goals or what is actually holding them back. In order to understand your own leadership qualities though, you must first understand what leadership is. There is no definitive definition of what leadership actually is. We must look at each quality and characteristic that shapes the image of a leader. There is no better example to follow then the lessons learned from the one and only Winnie the Pooh. “ Created by Alan Alexander Milne and was first published on October 14th, 1926. The characters in the book were based on Milne’s own son’s adventures with his stuffed animals and were featured in 4 books written by Alan Alexander Milne and illustrated by E.H. Shephard. The books were a favorite by millions, but the most influential people they touched were the daughters of the famous illustrator, Walt Disney. Their love for the books inspired Disney to bring the characters to life and in 1977 “The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh” was released as the first feature-length animated film. Since their first introduction to the animated world, Winnie the Pooh and all his friends have been featured in multiple cartoon series, three more additional movies, as well as countless fan fiction stories adding to the lives and circumstances surrounding Winnie the Pooh. It is the creation of these adaptations that has let the characters grows to the stardom he has achieved which allows us to look at his abilities and characteristics as a leader. We know leaders have exceptional qualities in self-motivation. The better attitude and positive influence a leader is on others, the better they are able to cause their subordinates to follow in their footsteps. They achieve better results when they can bring groups focus to the brighter side of a situation. Winnie the Pooh has shown us on countless occasions that being a positive light in people’s lives drastically effects the overall outcome of the group’s performance. On one specific occasion Winnie the Pooh is questioned by his best friend Piglet about how he wakes up in the morning. “When you wake up in the morning, Pooh, what’s the first thing you say to yourself?” Simply put, Winnies reply was “What’s for breakfast?” slightly puzzled, Piglet responds with his own morning reaction and says “I say, I wonder what’s going to happen exciting today?” after pondering this motion from Piglet, Pooh just simply nodded and says, “It’s the same thing” and he is right. To Pooh, who loves food and finds a great deal of joy in discovering a full honey pot, breakfast is the first exciting thing he encounters in the day. In his own methodology, Pooh took Piglet’s statement and ended up at the same conclusion. Though of often as a philosopher, Winnie the Pooh is a very humble bear. He has stated that he is a bear “of very brain” and knows when he is over his head. In spite of being a bear of little knowledge, he is still somehow very wise. He does not fear the unknown and instead steps up to the challenge of guiding his friends out of some very scary situations. He shows excellent problem solving and brain storming abilities as well as the desire to push on to the end and finish the task at hand. It is this dedication that leads his friends to his door step at Pooh Corner when they are faced with a challenge. Winnie the Pooh also shows tenacity when learning new things. He has seemingly never ending patience and enjoys the adventures that life takes him on. When it comes to ethics, Winnie the Pooh at times can appear brash. He is known to walk in the door during is “eleventhses” regardless if the habitant is home in order to find his next honey pot. He sometimes has a trial and error way of thinking that can leave his wiser friends such as Owl and Gopher shaking their heads at him in disbelief. It was Pooh who lead Roo to believe that dressing up everyone to look like a Tigger would cheer the real Tigger up and show him that they were his family. Although well intended, this was a terrible idea that devastated Tigger and caused him to run away. In the end, Tigger realized that the many residents of the Hundred Acre Wood were in fact his real, true family and just because they didn’t have stripes did not mean that they loved him less. Pooh led his friends to find Tigger, but dressing up and pretending to be someone you are not was not the right way to show Tigger that they cared for him. Pooh realized that, signified by his classic “Oh bother” statement before helping Roo to find Tigger and bring him home again. Winnie the Pooh possessive characteristics of all the different leadership styles, but the two that are most prevalent are the Visionary and coaching leadership styles. Pooh enjoys inspiring his friends. Christopher Robin and Piglet are often seen laying under the tree with Pooh while they watch the clouds, pointing out the funniest or most unique ones they can find. Pooh is always one to give a suggestion and even instruction at times to how to solve a problem. It was Pooh’s idea to have Christopher Robin walk around with his umbrella and say “Tut Tut, it looks like rain” in order to trick the bee’s. Coaching is clear to the fans of Winnie the Pooh when they see how Pooh himself interact with Piglet and Roo. Assumed to be the youngest residents of the Hundred Acre Wood, Piglet and Roo are most often faced with situations that they need help navigating. Pooh is always one step behind or even at times ahead, of them and always lends a suggestion or solution. “Organizing is what you do before you do something, so that when you do it, it is not all mixes up.” As we already have discovered, Pooh finds himself being slightly confused and even says that he is “A bear of little mind”. Although he is a stuffed bear with little knowledge of the world, he always finds a way to organize and inspire his friends. Even the pessimistic Eeyore will follow Pooh on another grand adventure. Pooh is friendly, understanding, and optimistic. He is adventurous and supportive of each and every one of his friends. He listens to their stories, helps them with their problems, and shares with their success. Pooh is, of course, not one to miss a party. All of these things are what allows Winnie the Pooh to be a good leader and helps him when it comes time to organize his “team” of workers to achieve their goal. Now that Winnie the Pooh has been established as the “head of the table” for the group of friends that reside in the Hundred Acre Woods, what would happen if Pooh was never there? It is reasonable to assume that Rabbit would be very elusive, choosing to spend more time alone tending to his garden then dealing with the rambunctious antics of the younger, more adventurous Piglet and Roo. Tigger, Piglet, and Roo would still all be friends but at a much smaller degree. They would not find themselves intrigued by adventures farther away from the comforts of their own home. Owl, it is feasible, would spend more time with Kanga, roo’s mother, and less time coming to the aid of the group. As a whole, everyone would have much more simple lives with fewer adventures. Winnie the Pooh adds variety. He adds intrigue to a world that is farther from his door steps. Winnie the Pooh helps to teach his friends vital life lessons and works hard to keep everyone connected to one another. In summary, leaders are not just people who were born with the ability to influence others naturally. Some people might find leadership to be a natural trait, but that does not stop other people from expanding on their skills and becoming a good leader. As children, we are a subjected to many different leader role models. Many of these examples we learn from are the ones that we would least expect. Winnie the Pooh and the other habitants of the Hundred Acre Wood are very good role models for people to follow in order to be better leaders. There are hundreds of quotes, countless examples, and even more motivational posters made with Winnie the Pooh and his friends as the subject. Great tenacity, being an optimistic force, helping to organize his friends on their many adventures, as well as being a great coach and mentor to the younger members of his group, Winnie the Pooh has exhibited the best of leadership qualities we should all strive to gain.