Following or Finding a Path 1
Who are you? How do you make a difference? Sometimes itâs a natural talent. Sometimes itâs a skill. Sometimes itâs a core value or quality that speaks to our humanity. Always itâs a statement based in the strengths of uniqueness. Sharing that unique strength with purpose is what defines a leader’s path.
Are you an artist, great at details, exceptional math? Can you code like banshee or persuade others to do anything? Are you easier to work with or faster than almost anybody? Do you ever find yourself thinking that what you do well is something everyone can do?
Just because it’s easy for you, doesn’t mean that I can do it.
Leaders know their uniqueness and own it.
Sorting out and evaluating what we know about ourselves is a leadership task. As Warren Bennis said in his book, On Becoming a Leader … we become leaders the moment that we …
- decide how we will be.
- take blame and responsibility.
- know that we can learn anything we want to learn.
- reflect on our experience, because it is through reflection we understand what we’ve learned.
Becoming a leader is a decision and a strategy, not an accident.
Reflect a while on what Warren Bennis said ….
- Have you decided how you will be? Have you defined what the best version of you is? Have you chosen those values are most important to you? Do you choose the people you work with and the people you call friends by the values they share? Do you know what behaviors are your deal breakers? A leader is impatient to be the best and the most human now, not sometime in the future.
- Do you take responsibility for yourself? Have you figured out it’s not the bad things other folks do, but how we hold on or respond that makes the difference? Are you still blaming someone for something that happened when you were a kid? A leader takes responsibility for building a life in which such things are history.
- Are you the learning you could be? It’s true that we can learn anything we want to, but we’ll always be more inclined toward what we’re genetically programmed to do well. We can learn to move our fears and use them to fuel our learning. We can learn to change our minds about what we like doing. We can learn to find the best in any situation. Leaders are hungry to learn from everything and everyone around us. That’s what propels us forward.
- Do you reflect on what your experience? Most of us spend time thinking hard about the negatives. We debrief our failures until we know them intimately. What about our successes? Do you reflect on what gives you energy? Do you think about why people listen to you? Leaders take time to reflect on the things that move them and engage the people around them.
Leadership is first about leading our own lives.
Learning to lead ourselves is how we understand what makes a leader. People see that in our demeanor and we see it in other people. They recognize the unique value and strength that’s individual in each person. It’s natural to reach out as leaders to align our goals and build something that none of us can build alone.
What have you done to become a leader in your own life?
Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
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