Thursday, November 24, 2011
Wise Leader Lessons
Leadership is about the quality of your character. It’s about action; not position. Great leaders spend their days helping those around them reach their highest potential while working towards a vision that adds value to the world at large. What are these qualities that separate those great leaders?
Lessons to Liberate Your Potential
1. Leadership is all about relationships.
• Your team will not follow you if they do not trust you.
• Your team must know you have their best interests in mind.
• Your team must know you care about them.
• Keep your promises.
• Be punctual – it shows respect of others’ time.
• Be courteous.
2. Strive for mastery over mediocrity.
• Watch how you choose your response to any given event. Ask yourself, “What is the quality of my decision on this?”
• Be conscious of what you are thinking about and where you are directing your focus.
• In what ways are you raising your own standards every day?
• What bad habits or rituals are creeping in that do not help you to become a better version of yourself?
• Refine your talents by reading great books.
3. Do what is right; not what is easy.
• Avoid the path of least resistance (doing things that are comfortable and convenient).
• Face your fears and consciously look at the “thing” that is holding you back.
• Reframe and stretch your thinking of what security is.
• Understand that the tougher you are on yourself, the easier life will be on you.
Thomas Henry Huxley, a 19th-century English writer, said: “Perhaps the most valuable result of all education is the ability to make yourself do the thing you have to do, when it ought to be done, whether you like it or not.”
Stop putting off bold leadership…
Now is the time to move to the next level in your career.
Now is the time to learn new skills that will allow you to serve your team better.
Now is the time to distinguish yourself from other leaders.
Now is the time to deeply connect with your family and build great friendships.
Now is the time to enjoy the leadership journey - before it is too late.
Until next time...Lead like you mean it!
Marjorie
