Defining who you are as a leader before you lead

It is often said that great leaders are made but it can also be said that these same leaders are sometimes lost.  The ability to lead is different for each person and most will find that to be effective in leadership they must define for themselves who they are in this position.

Defining who you are as a leader is important before you can lead other people.  Many have found that trying to be the type of leader that others want them to be may not fit with their personal integrity.  It is up to every leader to define exactly what this means.

In many organizations leaders are chosen not on their abilities but on the need of the organization.  Sometimes an individual is put into a leadership position unexpectedly.  As an example, recently a leader in a nonprofit organization stepped down after ten years in the same position.  This should have been a very important transition for her but instead, it was met with bittersweet memories.  The problem was that she was thrust into a leadership position after the founder of the organization died.  She had been there the longest and was asked to take the position.  Although she didn’t feel ready, she was flattered and took it.  As soon as she took the position she went back to school and achieved a master’s degree in Nonprofit Management.  She thought this would be enough but what she wasn’t prepared to do was work with some of the volunteers in the organization who had their own agendas. Sadly, she started off on the wrong foot with them by not being a confident leader.  Although she was able to make some changes in the organization, she wasn’t able to bring it to where she would have liked to see it go.  What she learned from this is that she had to pull her leadership from within herself instead of trying to please the other people who expected her to be like the founder.  This is something that effective leaders find out.

Education can only give you theories and ideas; it cannot actually show you how to lead.

Most leaders have had life experience that brings them to a certain philosophy of life and this philosophy usually comes with them into their leadership position.  They learn how to treat people well, and they learn how to move people forward when they can get their cooperation.  They also have a strong vision for their own lives and where they want it to go.   When this vision matches with the organization’s mission or at least complements it, the individual is able to lead effectively.  Leaders who rely on that intrinsic knowing of what to do in any situation seem to be able to strike a balance between what they expect from employees and what they expect from themselves.  When this comes together for them in the workplace, it allows them to develop other leaders.

In the future, we are going to need more leaders to fall back on this intrinsic knowledge in hard times.  They will be the ones to create innovative ways for organizations to move forward.

Career Change – Searching for a new job

If you’re in the process of undergoing a career change, you know that looking for a new job is not always as simple as mailing out CV’s / resumes or perusing the wanted ads.   Many jobs aren’t always published, and the competition can be intense.   Without the right network contacts, and not being in the right place at just the right time, you could be out of luck.

Then again when you’re looking to make your next career move, or indeed change career, the more you understand about you, not just your skills and competencies, the more you can search for the right match.  As our career path develops we’re always unconsciously looking for a company that fits with our intrinsic desires.  We’re consciously looking for a company that fits our current skills base and has the possibility of future development.

Each time we move job there is a risk, will it work out, will I fit in, will I get on, will I still have a job in the future or is the company going under.  If we change career the uncertainty and risks can appear even greater.  If we thought about it for too long we’d probably become paralysed and take no action, figuring it was better to stay where we were and make do.

Those who experience authentic career success are the one’s who have invested in making the unconscious drivers conscious.  Right now we’re being bombarded with news telling us there are a lot of companies struggling, what we hear less of are that there are lots of companies doing fine and some even experiencing growth.  These latter companies are still looking to recruit excellent staff, and yes now they’ll have even more choice.  So it’s even more important that you shine and that becomes far easier the more self aware you are.  It also reduces the risks mentioned previously.

There are many routes to this, you could read books, here are a few recommendations.  You could have some career coaching, there’s probably a few in your area, have a conversation with them first, even experience their coaching, so you know when you hire them they’re the right one for you.  Now sometimes this route either doesn’t fit your timeline, or doesn’t fit your budget.  Which was why we developed the option of a structured multi media format.  Through DVD, CD and workbook exercises you can rapidly increase your self awareness and discover what’s unconciously driving your career.  What’s more if you purchase this in January you’ll save 33% and the product comes with a 12 month risk free guarantee.

Whatever you decide about your career, don’t let inaction and analysis paralysis hold you back.

Increase your Self Esteem

Your level of self esteem is an often overlooked but important attribute for success.

If you have high levels of self esteem you can achieve the results that matter to you most by tapping into a self worth and a core confidence that is powerful in every situation.

Remember the following principle… Whatever you focus on you get more of.

If you focus on problems you’ll get more of them, if you focus on solutions you’ll get more of them.  Start focusing daily on what makes you happy, what fulfills you and what excites you.  This is the first secret to dramatically improving your self worth and self value in every area of your life.

For example:

If you want to like yourself as a person, focus on what you like about yourself, not what you don’t like about yourself.  If you want to increase someone else’s sense of self then focus on what you like about them and tell them.  For those that have an inner critic running this unexpected compliment will cause some disruption in their circuitry.  Those with low self esteem will have to counter your compliment, but over time things will shift.

The more you focus on what you want, the more your self worth, happiness, charisma, motivation and passion will increase and these new qualities will assist you in every area of your life..

When it comes to building your self esteem, a great source is the work of Nathaniel Branden, here’s a link to some of his articles.