Think Like a Leader
Albert Schweitzer said, ‘leadership is example’. How intentional are you in thinking about the example you are setting others in your daily leadership walk? Thinking clearly about what you want others to see and learn from you, can help you move from just wanting to be a good example and also recognise the steps you need to take.
|
|
|
Feel Like a Leader
Leadership means life in the spotlight. You are always being watched, and the visibility and intensity of that adds another layer of pressure. And yet, the alternative is far worse. Being ignored means you are not regarded as a leader worth watching. Over time your feelings can be shifted to recognising how much good you can be doing in people’s lives.
|
|
|
Act Like a Leader
The old adage is that ‘your life can either be a good example or a horrible warning’. Nowhere is this more true than in leadership. Your actions, deliberate or not, are the visual illustrations of you as a leader. Make your actions matter.
|
|
|
Carly Fiorina’s podcast series is called, ‘By Example. A Leadership Podcast’, particularly apt for our thinking on being a good example.
She is best known for her earlier role as the CEO of Hewlett-Packard (HP). She is a thoughtful and skilled communicator who continues to be a public figure and certainly knows how to battle against entrenched discrimination.
|
|
Brian Tracy, from Prince Edward Island in Canada, is a prolific author on self-development. This is an extract from his article, ‘Lead By Example: Know The Qualities Of A Good Leader.'
“For you to break through the success barriers and make a difference in your own life, you must aspire to a leadership role. You must develop the ability to persuade and influence others to work with you to achieve your goals and objectives. Moreover, you must learn to lead by example.
Qualities Of A Good Leader Becoming a leader, however, requires that you understand the roles and responsibilities of leadership. It also requires you to practise the qualities of the best leaders and follow their examples, until you begin to emerge as one yourself. In your life, you make critical decisions on a regular basis that determine the course of events for you. Many of the decisions you make have enormous potential consequences. You are always free to choose and have the ability to choose, to take command, to assume a leadership role in your life through several different leadership styles. In fact, all of your life is the result of the choices and decisions you have made up until this moment. Leaders are those who make better choices and decisions than others, and chose to lead by example.
Lead By Example And Make A Difference One of the most important qualities of a good leader is for you to lead by example, to be a role model, to be the kind of person that everyone else looks up to and wants to be like. One of the characteristics of leaders is that they carry themselves at all times – even when no one is watching – as if everyone was watching.”
|
|
|
Short, crisp and clear this video from Alex Lyon, a communications coach, gets to the heart of what setting an example really means. Who is the best leader you know?
|
|
|
This is the Hopeman Harbour Crane.
Hopeman is a village in Moray, situated on the north east coast of Scotland. It was established in 1805 to house and re-employ people displaced during the Highland clearances. The Crane was built in Glasgow in 1859 and started life on the Clyde loading the puffers that plied the west coast of Scotland. In the 1880s it was bought by the Wick Harbour Trust and used for the fishing trade there. In 1925 it was moved to Hopeman and saw service till the mid 1970s.
What a great story of the little crane that could!
|
|
Lead by Example: 50 Ways Great Leaders Inspire Results by John Baldoni, was published by Amacom in 2008.
Baldoni, a leadership educator, executive coach and speaker believes that to be effective, the people in charge must give their team a reason to believe in their talents and their ability to get people to work together.
Great leadership requires decisiveness, authority, conviction, compassion, and, most important, the ability to set the right example. He does not offer a ‘quick fix’ and suggests it takes a lifetime of trying to put it into practice.
Filled with examples of visionary leaders who have overcome their shortcomings and achieved greatness, the book shows how to build trust, drive results, and win the respect of the people they lead.
|
|
Post Traumatic Growth #53
|
|
|
...without a little reflection, there is no Insight Added.
"The most powerful leadership tool you have is your own personal example."
John Wooden
|
|
|
Lead well
Graham and Lesley
|
|
This email is brought to you by The Leader (Scotland). It encourages leaders at any age or stage, in all sectors, to deliberately improve their leadership.
The Leader also provides confidential support, learning and development for leaders.
Find out more at
|
|
|
|
