U.N.I.Q.U.E. KIDS Excerpt

8/8/2019 U.N.I.Q.U.E. KIDS Excerpt

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Leadership Garden

Early one spring morning, Leda—akind and passionate gardener—sat

on her back porch sipping tea. A

cool breeze blew through her hair. I love

this season. It is a time of hope and growth.

Leda sat down her tea, gathered her sun

hat, tools and basket o seeds, and headed

out to her newly-plowed garden.



U.N.I.Q.U.E. KIDS—Growing My Leadership Garden

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She knelt down and crumbled the sot warm dirt

between her hands. Opening one o her seed packages,she careully placed each tiny seed side by side in the dirt.

“Grow strong little seeds. Send out your roots and sprout

your leader. And when the time is right you will blossom

and be ruitul.” Leda heard a rustle in the grass. A sheep

was walking toward her.

“Hello there. Where did you come rom?” Leda asked.“I came rom the orest behind the hills. I’m lost and

I’m a long way rom home,” the sheep said. “I saw a light

rom your armhouse last night; I thought this might be

a sae place.”

“Well, you’ve come to the right spot. What’s your

name?”The sheep stepped back. “My name is Hugh.”



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Chapter 1—Leadership Garden

Leda leaned orward and smiled. “What a lovely and

noble name. Did you know your name means heart, mind,and spirit—the places where leadership begins?”

“I didn’t know names had meanings.”




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Leda pointed toward the Leadership Farm. “Many

unique arm animals live here and they all have a purposeand a name that means something special. We grow fowers

and crops you can eat, but we also plant and watch over

special Leadership Gardens.”

“What’s a Leadership Garden?” asked Hugh, looking

around.



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Chapter 1—Leadership Garden

“Leadership Gardens don’t grow in the soil, like other

plants. Leadership seeds can grow in all o us, in our hearts,our minds, and our spirits.”

Hugh wrinkled his nose. “That sounds weird.”

Leda patted his shoulder. “Not really. Planting leader-

ship seeds can make your own Leadership Garden blossom

and grow. Are you searching or something Hugh?”

“I’m not sure,” he said. “I don’t know where I belong.Once, when I was a little lamb, I played in another eld

with the goats. The armer’s son called me stupid. He said

I didn’t belong in his eld. That hurt my eelings.”

“What did you do?” asked Leda.

“I ran home and asked my mother i I was stupid to

play with goats. She said I wasn’t stupid, and playing withother animals was ne. She told me all animals are unique

and have something special to oer.”

“It sounds as i you have a wise mother.”

Hugh lowered his head and whispered. “I did.”




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“What do you mean, you did?”

Hugh blinked away a tear.“One day a pack o coyotes headed into our feld. I

knew my mother was in danger, but I was scared. I saw

them circle around her, but I ran away.”

“You didn’t go back?”

“I was sure my fock wouldn’t want a coward like me, so

I stayed away.” Hugh gave a piteous ba-a-h. “I’ve wanderedever since, eeling lost and alone.”

“Everyone eels rightened at times. It happens to all o

us. But what happened to your mother?”

“I don’t know.”

Leda stroked Hugh’s wooly head. “Then you don’t

really know i the coyotes attacked your mother, or whatthe fock thinks o you.”

“You mean my mother could still be alive?”

“It’s possible.” Leda planted more seeds. “It’s also pos-

sible that the fock might miss you.”

Hugh hung his head and pushed the dirt with his hoo.

“They won’t miss a coward like me.”

Leda wrinkled her brow. “You don’t know that is true.

It’s just something you’ve allowed yourself to think.”

Hugh looked surprised. “You really think so?”

“Hugh, I think you’re ready or a lesson in planting

your own Leadership Garden. Do you know what you

have in common with the seeds I am planting in my

garden?” she asked.

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U.N.I.Q.U.E. KIDS Excerpt