Thriving as a Leader: 18 Ideas
Straight into it today with this week’s newsletter. 18 ideas on how you can thrive and upgrade.
Whatever you do, don’t try and do everything at once.
Focus on 2 or 3 things at a time max.
Be really intentional about building these new behaviours or competencies into your development plan and journey, then evaluate what’s working and what’s not through introspection.
1) Take Responsibility - when you or your team make mistakes or miss the mark, own it. The quicker you take ownership, the quicker you can start brainstorming solutions and mapping out a path to improve and get better.
There are always opportunities in every setback, in every failure and in every rejection. Sometimes you have to have an open mind and be willing to get uncomfortable with the truth. It’s tough, I dislike that feeling when I get tough feedback or a customer tells me we suck but thank the source.
If customers and employees are willing to share feedback, it’s because the vast majority care about you and the partnership. When they come knocking, let them in and take responsibility.
2) Be Human - rules, processes, and policies are all in place for normal conditions and business as usual. Life is not as straightforward as that, you have to recognise at times you need to exercise your authority and bend the rules. People go through difficult situations and we need to foster an environment of flexibility and openness to always do right by the individual.
3) Goals - set goals and objectives for what you want to achieve. Leaders have clearly defined goals for what success looks like, and they then map out a plan to get them there. Without goals, we don’t have direction or focus and we end up drowning in the busy work. Goals also allow you to measure progress and determine what success looks like. What are your personal goals for the next 1, 3 and 5 years?
4) Emotional Intelligence - Self Awareness, Self Regulation, Empathy, Social Skills and Internal Motivation are all key areas of Emotional Intelligence. You will grow significantly by working on these areas and developing your awareness.
5) Belief System - what you believe is how you live. Be open to changing what you believe. Your thoughts drive your emotions which impact your decisions. These decisions shape the actions and ultimately the results you see.
Some one-off or tough experiences create limiting beliefs that hinder people for years and years and they don’t realise it, it’s just what they believe. Change what you believe, you change your results. Some ideas here around beliefs.
6) Journaling - is a really powerful way to facilitate self-awareness. Try it. Journaling consistently will open your mind, your awareness and allow time for reflection and huge gains in perspective. Carve out time in your week for Journaling and Self Reflection. Some other benefits in this article.
7) Growth Mindset - Carol Dweck’s Fixed vs Growth Mindset really does have a profound impact on how we lead our lives. A Fixed Mindset is a person that doesn’t learn from their mistakes, they see their skills as fixed, they don’t try and they’ll happily blame other people for their shortcomings. Someone on the other hand with a Growth Mindset sees the opportunity in the face of setbacks, they know because they’re not there today, it doesn’t mean they cannot gain new experiences, skills, and perspective and be there tomorrow. Growth Mindset people achieve so much more.
8) Kaizen - is a Japanese term meaning "change for the better" or "continuous improvement." Always be looking to deliver more and make things better every day. Toyota achieved much of its early success by adopting this philosophy, it maximized quality, reduced waste, and looked for improvements constantly.
9) Courageous - sometimes you need to disagree, stand up, and go against the grain at times. It’s not easy, but it’s sometimes the right thing to do if it’s what you believe. Do yourself a favour and start building more mental resiliency now, challenge yourself each day to do something uncomfortable.
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