It’s no secret that leaders perform best when they are at their best, personally as well as professionally.
The practices of personal leadership comprise ten ways leaders can learn who they want to be, and how they can reach their true potential, whether that means leading a company, leading a team, or leading a life – all without sacrificing what’s important to them in life. That’s why today we’ve listed 10 steps that will help you to become a better leader.
10 Steps To Becoming The Leader You Want To Be, While Living The Life You Want To Live
Get clarity. Ask yourself: What do you want? In business, “clarity” equates to setting a vision. For leaders, clarity means having the skill to get such a vision quickly, consciously, and confidently again and again as circumstances change and evolve. When you are clear about what you want, you are able to describe it in vivid detail. You know what it will take to get there and how it will feel to arrive.
Find focus. Ask yourself: Where will you put your attention? “Focus” is often achieved through a strategic plan. For leaders, focus comes from the process of prioritization, giving them the ability to cut through the clutter of a crowded mind.
Take action. Ask yourself: What do you need to do? Pledge to take action – not just any action, but action that is targeted and effective. Action can be random, disorganized and endless. Leaders must be cleverer than that. You must not just organize your actions but catalyze them to find the swiftest, most powerful ways to attain multiple goals with ease.
Tap into your brilliance. Ask yourself: What’s unique about you? Often in business, the focus tends to be on weaknesses. From performance reviews to data analysis, the question always seems to be, “Where are we failing and how do we fix it?” Leaders need to ask a different question: “Where do I excel, and how do I leverage my talents for the best possible results?”
Experience fulfillment. Ask yourself: What motivates and inspires you? In business, fulfillment is often substituted with rewards. If you work hard and do well, you will receive such remuneration as a salary, a raise or a bonus. But leaders don’t just need to be rewarded, they need to feel rewarded with an experience of motivation, contribution, and meaning. When you experience fulfillment, you move from success to significance.
Maximize time. Ask yourself: How can you achieve more with less? When it comes to running a business, leaders often try to accomplish more with time management. But it’s not working. Leaders are busier than ever, and it seems to be getting worse. Like all effective leaders, you need to stop.
Build your team. Ask yourself: Who can support you? Being the best leader you can be also involves putting together the right team to complete the work. For leaders, building a team means finding the right people to support their growth. Building a personal support team brings you the insight you need to expand and stretch in new ways – not because you cannot do things for yourself but because you can do more with the help of others.
Keep learning. Ask yourself: What do you need to know? In business, “learning” often takes the form of workshops and seminars. Leaders need a more customized way to learn – a highly personal, completely self-designed approach to becoming even better.
See possibility. Ask yourself: What’s possible? Despite a push for innovation and creativity, the business approach is typically concrete. Specific. Analytical. But leaders have another, more intuitive option. You can learn use creativity, openness and trust to recognize to the possibilities around you.
All, all at once. Ask yourself: How can you have it all? Over the span of our career we tend to compartmentalize our work and ourselves, keeping separate the personal and professional parts of our lives. But leaders succeed more when they bring all of themselves to their work. It is possible for you to have it all…all at once.
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