During the month of March 2010, Dawn McCoy, author of Leadership Building Blocks will highlight great women in leadership during Women’s History Month.

LaTara: Thank you for allowing me to be a guest blogger today at Mom Unplugged. Today, in the Celebrate Women in Leadership series, I want to highlight my grandmother, Mrs. Eula Clotelle McCoy (pronounced “U-la” and “Clo-tell”).

Eula Clotelle McCoy, Exceptional mother, church and community leader

Mrs. Eula Clotelle McCoy (pronounced “U-la” and “Clo-tell”) was born in Abbeville, South Carolina on May 10, 1917. She is the fourth of sevenchildren of Rufus and Ethel Bradley Searles and was raised in Coatesville, Pennsylvania. In 1935, she graduated from Coatesville High School. A year later, she married the late Reverend William M. McCoy, Sr. and this union lasted for 63 years. She had three children—two sons, a doctor and a minister and a daughter, a special education teacher.

McCoy worked at Bell Telephone Company, in retail for several years, and assisted her husband with running Twin Oaks Grocery, the only black-owned store of its kind during the 1940s in Chester, Pennsylvania.

At the age of 92, Mrs. McCoy continues actively sewing, a talent she has had for most of her life. Through the years, she has taken up quilting, sewing, and needlework and is an active twenty-year member of the Homemaker’s Country Quilters of Creamery, Pennsylvania. Mrs. McCoy enjoys stitching quilts for family members and also for sick children at the Ronald McDonald House.

Throughout her life, Mrs. E. Clotelle McCoy has been actively involved in church ministries including Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church of Twin Oaks, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Ministers Wives & Widows Organization, and is deaconess emeritus at Grace Baptist Church of Germantown.

As the grandmother of six and great-grandmother of six, Mrs. McCoy is more than simply a grandmother and respected church and community leader. Let me further explain since this is my grandmother who I call Gramom.

At church and banquets, for instance, Gramom is often acknowledged for being the most senior (and best dressed!) person. She is often asked about the keys to staying healthy, staying married, and looking good. Also, she coordinates details regarding family gatherings with gentle suggestions about picnic basket “fixin’s” and reminds us “young folk” in her subtle way that she’s in charge.

From her wisdom and lifelong passion for sewing and quilting, I learned to appreciate legacy. Gramom has created a legacy using her creativity to make memorable quilts for others. She even passed along one of her sewing machines to me to keep the family sewing tradition alive.

Finally, Gramom regularly reminds me how important balance and self-care are to stay the course. Even when I’m not with her I can hear her reminders: “Rest a while, chile” or “Take some time. Stretch out.” Not to mention that I often find tranquility after finishing her delicious turkey wing dinner or a plate of her famous cheese grits.

What I most admire is that my grandmother exudes leadership skill better than anyone I know with ease and grace. She never predicted or intended her leadership role but it embodies everything she does. And you can’t get even a fraction of all that from a book.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Dawn McCoy is author of Leadership Building Blocks: An Insider’s Guide to Success. As one of the youngest elected African-American elected to the Sacramento CityUnified School Board, McCoy shares seven leadership fundamentals in her book. Inspiring readers to be top in their field, Dawn shares her insights based upon twenty years serving as a nonprofit and government executive.

A motivational speaker, coach, and founder of Flourish Leadership Group, a leadership development and communications firm, Dawn is dedicated to transforming ordinary people into extraordinary leaders. In recent years, she has worked with organizations to develop their vision and create phenomenal results. Dawn has worked with hundreds of individuals to help them capture their spirit of leadership and truly become the effective leaders they were meant to be.

Read an excerpt online and visit the tour schedule at http://bit.ly/LeadershipBuildingBlocks.