In my last post, I shared several reasons why you don’t have to wait until later to be a leadership expert. You can begin right here, right now, no matter who you are. If you’ve bought that idea, then let me share several practical ways you use your leadership expertise to benefit others.
At a social function recently I found myself in an engaging conversation with a psychologist and a fitness coach. We took turns sharing the interesting nuances of our professions. After my turn explaining the exciting ways I get to be involved in leadership as a consultant, coach and writer, one of my new friends commented that leadership seemed to go hand-in-hand with both psychology and fitness. I asked what he meant. He clarified that commitment to developing a healthy body and a sound mind are some of the first traits necessary to lead both oneself and others. “But,” he added, “I’d feel awkward presenting myself as a leadership expert. Who am I to say I know what leadership is and that people should listen to me?”
It was such a great question. Who are the real leadership experts anyway? Are they the people who manage Fortune 500 companies, hold elected positions, or write bestselling books? They certainly qualify, but are there others?
I’m convinced everyone can become not only a leader but an expert as well because we all have the ability to influence and to learn and grow. That means you! And it can happen much sooner than you think. What a great loss it would be for anyone to sidestep their leadership potential because they felt unqualified. So let me share my rationale with you. You can become a leadership expert from right where you are, starting today.
How do you talk with other people about leadership?
Unless I’m already a trusted leadership advisor, most people don’t just come up and ask me to help them evaluate their personal and organizational leadership effectiveness. (And when they do, it’s a little more organic than that!) It’s true the more responsibilities people acquire, the more complicated their leadership situation gets. Executive leaders usually have access to budget, resources and personnel to address the leadership challenges they face. Everyday leaders often have to figure things out on their own. You may be able to help, but how do you get the conversation started?
Earlier this week, I had the privilege of guest posting on my friend Dan Black’s blog Dan Black on Leadership. Dan has been writing on leadership and personal development for several years now and has built a pretty impressive readership.
I got to meet Dan Black at a conference in San Diego
Has anyone ever asked you how to become a better leader? I still remember the first time that happened to me. I wasn’t prepared to answer, but at the same time, I was the one being asked.
The more time I spend with military and national security leaders, the more I’m convinced of the magnitude of a certain leadership quality: courage. That might not surprise you; everyone knows military service members need courage to put their lives on the line every day. There’s no debating that, but the courage I’m talking about applies to all leaders everywhere, whether your organization is made up of hundreds of thousands of people, or just a handful. Let me explain.
The humble leader is in vogue. Jim Collin’s masterpiece Good to Great made that clear with his distinction of “Level 5 Leadership,” as has a resurgence in servant leadership interest.
But if you are a naturally non-assuming person, you can’t use the guise of “humility” to keep from putting your best foot forward.
I read an excellent post by author Mark Miller recently about what it takes to create a leadership culture. It couldn’t have been more spot on. To create a winning leadership culture, according to Miller, you must define it, train it, practice it, measure it, and model it. Want I want to add is another dimension on how to position your organization to sustain the culture changes you wish to implement. Here are the three considerations:
It was years ago that the late Green Bay Packers football coach echoed these words as part of his famous “What It Takes to be Number One” speech:
“Winning is not a sometime thing; it’s an all the time thing. You don’t win once in a while; you don’t do things right once in a while; you do them right all the time. Winning is a habit. Unfortunately, so is losing.”
Reverend Lombardi (as my high school football coach referred to him) knew something about winning – that it was habitual. But I believe he can teach us something about alignment when it comes to our core values as well.
In my previous posts, I explained why reading is crucial to growth and development and listed my favorite leadership books – the ones that inspire me or provided the most insight. But choosing the right book to read next can be tricky sometimes, especially given there are literally hundreds of thousands just a click away. With so many choices and so little time to read, how can you be sure you are picking the “right” one?
Here are a few strategies I’ve had a lot of success with:
It’s pretty common that my friends or folks in my network will ask me what book they should read. I love the question, but it always puzzles me just a bit. Without any context, it feels kind of like they are asking me what outfit they should wear that day! But after a couple interchanges, it turns out they are usually referring to some kind of leadership book that will help them get to the next level.
I came across an alarming statistic awhile back from Dan Miller that college graduates on average will spend more money on soft drinks than on post-graduate education. Right then and there, I resolved that this would never be true of me. I heard Dave Ramsey say that the average millionaire reads one non-fiction book a month. So I committed to read two a month. And I heard Charlie “Tremendous” Jones used to say that you’ll be the same person in five years that you are today except for the people you meet and the books you read. So I decided I would never stop reading.
What could you do to completely ruin the leaders in your organization? By that, I mean what could you do to destroy their motivation, deplete their energy, defuse their creativity, replace their confidence with cynicism, and then cause them to leave – or worse, have them stay? Go ahead, make a list. I started my own list, in no particular order, just to help get your thinking going:
