The key to successful leadership today is influence, not authority.
~Kenneth Blanchard
Until you truly know yourself, strengths and weaknesses, know what you want to do and why you want to do it, you can not succeed in your true power. It's only as you begin to examine your life that you are able to identify the your leadership style.
Knowing your strengths of who you are as a leader is a process so many ignore and still wonder why their team around them is not engaged.
You can not begin to lead yourself without an understanding of who you are.
Becoming a leader starts with knowing yourself and what you want to make of your life. It's a foundation of strong character, the relationships you have gained, the knowledge you have collected, the intuition or the deep feeling of knowing, every little bit of experience you have endured and edulged over the years plus your ability of the doing.
Having a deep understanding of your strengths will highlight the areas of your influential leadership style, as well as give you a deeper self-awareness in addressing gaps in your leadership style. It will create self awareness that triggers your desire for change, which you growing, inspired and inspiring.
Trust the process!
In my leadership workshops, I take the participants through an exercise of brainstorming the 6 key elements to leadership.
As you read on, grab yourself a notepad and create your list as things pop into your mind.
Character - Who are you?
As a leader it is important to understand your strength in character. The mental and moral qualities distinctive in yourself.
To dig deeper ask yourself questions or ask others who you work with, live with, or who know you of what they see which stands out in character.
Who do you show up as in your workplace?
Who do you show up as in a social setting?
Are you empathetic, funny, understanding, kind, creative...
Relationships - Who do you know?
The people you know create your influence of leadership. Why?
Building relationships shows the investment you put into others.
Those with the strongest relationships have the greatest amounts of influence as a leader.
Nothing is more valuable about the connections and quality of your relationships, whether you know it or not.
Leadership is not about standing alone, it is about surrounding yourself with others that have been influenced by your ability to invest, connect, and create meaningful relationships.
Knowledge - What do you know?
True leaders work with others to translate their knowledge into initiatives that benefit their organization. They show the way through their actions and behaviours, rather than a fountain of information.
Where did you learn your knowledge?
What books have your read?
What courses have you taken?
What are the common threads others seek your knowledge in?
Intuition - What you feel?
Learning to trust your intuition, making powerful decisions can be one of the greatest attributes of leadership.
Connecting with your inner self and lay down the distractions of data training does not come easy to many of people.
It comes from trusting yourself to make the right decision, to own up to this part of your inner intelligence.
If you say after you do something, "I just had a feeling, it would work out." most likely your intuition has guided you.
Making a list of times when you used this to your advantage and succeeded will give you the ability to lead with powerful decisions.
Experience - Where have you've been?
So far everything above has everything to do with your experience.
But are you overlooking some really powerful experiences from your past which has influenced you as a leader?
There are many group activities which has formed your influence such as, volunteering, social groups, sport teams, cross-cultural experience or passion projects.
Exploring where you have been will uncover some truths which you didn't realize was part of your influence to tap into.
Ability - What can you do?
The ability to be a leader has everything to with what you can do, what you learned and not always being a "natural born leader."
Some example for you to explore are earning respect, selflessness, the ability to listen, communication skills, quick learner, creating a clear vision and so much more.
Where do you stand out in your ability to influence those around you?
Being an influential leader has always been about the team around you feeling like they are supported.
How you show up has everything to do with your attributes learned and new learnings.
If you are interested in explore this further, reach out.
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I want you to create your difference and stand out to grow exponentially!
Make it a great day!
Leadership Performance Coach