Becoming the Leader You Were Meant to Be
In this month’s journal I would like to continue our series on what makes a company truly great and people feel like they can have a positive impact on those around them.
Last month I talked about what makes an effective leader and gave a list of specific guidelines to help you grow as a leader. I hope you were able to apply at least one of those guidelines. If you did not read this, I would strongly encourage you to go back and read and work to apply one guideline every thirty days. After thirty days, if you are comfortable this is becoming a habit, then add another guideline. Over time you will notice a significant difference in your attitude, focus, and impact you are having on those around you.
Success in any business starts with leadership. Leaders have a halo effect over the company or organization they lead and their behaviors, good and bad, will impact the culture and ultimate success of the company or organization.
As leaders, we need to bring our best to our companies and organizations every day. I know from firsthand experience how easy this is to say and how hard it is to do. Stuff happens every day and our best-laid plans seem to rarely happen. I have ended up feeling regret over lost opportunities, poor decisions, and have often focused on the wrong things. This caused my frustration to boil over and my words to be reactionary. I said things I could not retract causing both people and the company to suffer. We all mess up and when we do, we have to be secure enough in who we are to sincerely apologize. That was hard for me to do, but critically important to rebuild relationships. It shows vulnerability and that we are not perfect. It helps us get re-aligned on the inside. The incidents and apologies have resulted in some of the most significant growth for me on the inside and helped me better understand what makes a true and authentic leader. It helped me grow on the inside so I can be a better leader on the outside.
Implementing the guidelines we suggested is a great first step to growing on the inside. You may have looked at this and wondered, “where will I find the time to do these things? I am already overwhelmed with my job, I am not spending enough time with my wife and kids, I don’t have time to do fun things. There is always another email to respond to, fire to put out, and crisis to address.”
This month we will begin to answer this question for you. We will start with a discussion around establishing a morning routine and what this will do for you. Next month we will introduce a tool that can help you begin to understand and determine what you are working on, as well as what you should or should not be working on. It’s not about getting more done, its about getting more of the right things done.
If you take this seriously, commit to doing the hard work necessary, and learn how to become more focused you will be amazed at the results and benefits.
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