
Leadership is a LEADER’s ability to positively influence others through the integration of character, knowledge, and experience. Leadership is not a title and leadership is not something you are born into. Leadership is something you develop.
So what can YOU do to step up and reach your leadership potential? You can think in terms of improvement.
In a leadership study, qualities such as assertiveness, adaptability, intelligence, and conscientiousness were mentioned as the important leadership skills. With this vital knowledge, it would make sense that you strive to improve your leadership skills and get the most out of life for everyone in your sphere of influence.
The following are 6 ways you can improve your leadership skills.
- Chose a Life of Growth — When you sincerely dedicate yourself to continual growth, you keep moving forward. As soon as you think you can coast or rest or just maintain what you have already achieved, that is when you start sliding backwards.
- Be Teachable — “It’s what you learn after you know it all that counts”. John Wooden, former UCLA basketball coach said this. He recognized that the greatest obstacle to growth isn’t ignorance, it is knowledge. When we think we know it all, we become unteachable and can no longer grow or improve.
- Focus on Self-Development, Not Self-Fulfillment — Self-fulfillment is about feeling good. With self- development, feeling good is a byproduct, not a goal. Self-development is a higher calling, it’s the development of your potential so that you can attain the purpose for which you were created.
- Never Stay Satisfied with Current Accomplishments — Thinking that you have arrived when you accomplish a goal has the same effect as believing you know it all. It takes away your desire to learn. Successful people know that wins and losses are both temporary. So no matter how successful you are today, don’t get complacent. Stay hungry. Don’t settle into the Comfort Zone. From success, move on to greater growth.
- Be a Continual Learner — To keep moving, become a perpetual learner. You’ll have to carve out time for it. As Henry Ford said, “It’s been my observation that most successful people get ahead during the time other people waste.” Learning something every day is the essence of being a continual learner.
- Develop a Plan for Growth — The key to this life is developing a plan: Plan your work and work your plan. Earl Nightingale says “If a person will spend one hour a day on the same subject for five years, that person will be an expert on that subject.” How you go about it does not matter, but do it daily.
What’s Next for YOU?
Want to discover how you can exceed as a leader and put these keys and other strategies into practice? Take advantage of the Leadership Strategy Session with Karlyn D. Henderson, M.A., CEO of Poimena Consulting. Learn more at Leadership Strategy Session.
Leave a Reply