Effective leaders use their heads to manage and their hearts to lead.
Do you aspire to be that kind of leader?
If so, getting your interactions with others right depends on you getting you right – first.
And getting you right requires:
- introspection: casting a caring yet clinically objective eye on your interests, skills, qualities and values; and
- self-awareness: a non-judgmental understanding of how you respond, react, engage and interact.
Getting to know what makes you tick requires a super-sized serving of fortitude because sometimes that mirror reflects self-truths we’d prefer not to know.
It’s easy to point a finger at the management teams of BP, Toyota, Lehman Brothers, and on and on and declare that their leadership practices need to change. That’s really taking on the 800 pound gorilla! Plus, it’s a gorilla of a scale and scope that’s beyond our reach.
What is within our reach is making ourselves better. Stop for a moment and think about your own leadership legacy. Will it be a good story? A bad one? Or something so-so?
If your current reality and future legacy aren’t what you want them to be, now that’s an 800 pound gorilla you can conquer—provided you begin with the mindset of taking one bite at a time. Going slow and thoughtful keeps you focused and the task manageable.
Start be getting connected to what goes on in your head and your heart. Then use that wisdom and knowledge to connect with, lead and inspire others. Be your own improvement project!
5 do-it-yourself leadership improvement bites to chew on
1. Know your hot buttons.
Get familiar with what sets you off and build some fail-safe processes ahead of time. One of my hot buttons is missed deadlines, especially those that come and go without advance notice that there’s a problem. My workaround has been to use a two-part ground rule that’s communicated early on: deadlines are jointly negotiated and a heads-up regarding barriers to completion is an expected practice and courtesy from all involved.
2. Know how you learn.
Do you learn best by doing? Reading? Touching? Seeing? Noodling it over? Tailor your own practices to fit your style. Share those insights with those around you so they don’t have to waste time guessing.
3. Know your top five values.
Many life and career mistakes – and heartache – can be avoided if you make/take the time to inventory those principles that are “must haves” in your life. Understanding your values becomes a yardstick against which you assess what you do. Taking a wrong-fit job will become a thing of the past as will feeling unfulfilled and disengaged.
4. Know what you’re really good at doing.
Get a firm grip on your strengths and put yourself in situations where you can maximize them (without over-playing them).
5. Know what personal skills you lack.
Knowing your weaknesses is real strength. If you’re an introvert and meeting strangers makes your stomach knot up, the nonprofit job you’re considering that requires you to regularly network with community leaders to raise funds probably has a skill gap between your preferences and the job requirements that’s too large to bridge successfully and/or comfortably. Spending time “correcting” your weakness isn’t the best use of your time, just use this knowledge to guide yourself into situations where your strengths take center stage.
I’m fond of saying that real leaders think more about we and less about me. To get to that thoughtfully self-aware position, focus first on yourself, and get firmly grounded in your own emotional intelligence so you can be successful in leading others.
What say you?
Image source before quote: morgueFile.com
