As I am planning ahead for the upcoming three-day holiday weekend, I find myself contemplating leadership. As a leader, I am always seeking to face new challenges and create positive change. I believe that change encourages growth – both within myself and in those I work with.
One of my favorite leadership quotes is by George Washington: “Leadership is not only having a vision, but also having the courage, the discipline, and the resources to get you there.”
When you break it down, according to the quote above, there are really three essential qualities that are components of leadership: having a vision, courage, and discipline.
Is having a vision a personality trait? I believe it is. One that every person can hone. To be a visionary, to have a vision, is to be able to define a set of beliefs and guiding principles to uphold and put into practice in daily choices and actions in order to live with purpose and intention. To me, being visionary means thinking creatively about future possibilities and seeing the bigger potential in every choice. To be able to lead your life and others, you must have a vision, taking a stand for what you believe in and to be the change you want to see in the world.
When making changes, courage is essential. To be a courageous leader, practice COURAGE:
Choose optimism: Cultivate positive thinking.
Own the moment: take charge and support your decisions with your actions. Understand your inner self: keep awareness of your values, motivations, and biases. Redesign the work: find a better, faster way to do things. Ask for help: seek support that will empower you to find creative solutions. Go the extra mile: work hard and do what you believe is great work. Embrace uncertainty: know you have what it takes to be a positive influence.
Discipline is the main ingredient in making a positive change. It is about doing the things you may not feel like doing to get to where you want to be and have the things you want. A leader has the discipline to get things done. However, discipline doesn’t require perfection, only taking consistent and persistent action every day. Cultivating self-discipline is being able to dig deeper into commitments made to self and others. Throughout life’s challenges and opportunities, commitment is built from the inside out.
Sadly, resources are not distributed evenly, equally, or fairly. Not all networks are created equal, and opportunities aren’t equally accessible to all. The attainment of dreams is more difficult for some than others. Yet, every person can tap into personal talents and outside resources (within reach) for help and support. To be a leader is to be able to build and draw on internal resources. Even when external resources are not available, or are in short supply, one can find ways to be resourceful. Being resourceful means feeling empowered to find a way around obstacles, to find solutions to needs. Resources might be limited. However, resourcefulness is infinite.
This brings me to another of my favorite leadership quotes. This one is by Barack Obama, whose story is the American story of rising from humble beginnings to great success. And great success starts with great leadership.
“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
When people work to create change, they step into uncharted territory. Leaders embrace unfamiliar places, situations, and experiences. They replace fear with curiosity and find comfort in discomfort to be able to leverage strengths and make an impact. Being a leader is about individual grit and feeling a responsibility towards reaching one's dreams while helping others grow into theirs. It’s about making a positive contribution to the world.
Personal and professional leadership requires a proactive “the buck stops here” mindset. By the way, it is widely agreed that President Harry S. Truman popularized this expression. Truman believed that a leader couldn’t pass the responsibility of important decisions to other people. A leader establishes credibility by displaying a strong commitment to people and outcomes. True leaders give themselves permission to take ownership and lead regardless of external factors such as position, or title.
To create personal and professional leadership, choose and execute the right strategies. Here are 3 for your leadership development plan:
1. Prioritize personal and professional growth
The investment with the highest ROI is the one you make in yourself. Allocate time, space, and energy to learn and grow. Identify opportunities for improvement and embrace challenges as your path to grow and to flourish. Be interested in learning from others. Pursue knowledge to better understand people and situations and search for wisdom in applying the knowledge acquired to navigate a new way forward out of the comfort zone and into uncharted territory. Be resourceful. Do a lot with little. Use what you have to do all that you can. Approach your work with the spirit of pioneering to not only make things happen, but to learn how to make things better.
2. Strive for personal and professional excellence
Always reflect on where you are, and how you can improve. Use your strengths, abilities, and skills in the best way possible. Take initiative and go the extra mile. Do more than what is required or expected of you. Be the go-to person that others can count on to get things done. Go further, be more helpful, more supportive, more valuable. The extra mile is never crowded. When everyone is looking down and avoiding eye contact, look up, and volunteer for the difficult tasks. Keep going when the going gets tough. Generate new solutions to old problems.
Don’t fear making mistakes; they are tools for learning and are pivotal in learning forward and achieving excellence.
3. Expand your sphere of influence
Look beyond yourself. Explore ways to make a difference. Be thoughtful in your choices with whom you surround yourself and how you spend your time. Make a conscious decision to volunteer for projects and to serve not only your own self- interests but to promote the greater good. Create a strong network of personal contacts to provide perspective, support, and resources. Show genuine interest in other people. Listen actively, be open-minded, and communicate with care. Be positive. Positivity and optimism attract followers. They make people want to be around you and work with you. The optimist sees a path forward where others see a roadblock. Be the change and inspire positive action even when doors seem closed. Find the changing power of the ONE THING you can do.
In a world filled with challenges, our hope is for more true leaders – the emerging leaders of tomorrow who are committed to finding new ways to move forward together and promote positive changes where everyone is better off.
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