The good news is – with focus, passion, and commitment – you can move toward remarkable leadership.
The big five of remarkable leadership:
#1. Have enough ego to believe you earned your place at the table.
- Base personal confidence on hard work, not charisma.
- Bring your best self to challenges, even when you feel self-doubt.
- A little overconfidence is better than under-confidence, as long as you stay open.
- Strive boldly for personal excellence.
- Make space for other remarkable leaders.
#2. Focus your energy and talent on delivering meaningful organizational results that yield personal fulfillment.
- Personal fulfillment fuels sustained motivation. You won’t last long, if you hate what you’re doing.
- An opportunity outside your strengths isn’t an opportunity for you.
- Determine your greatest contributions based on opportunity, passion, and personal strengths.
#3. Set long-term direction and remain flexible in the short-term.
- Determine what you want to accomplish and why.
- Stay vigilant to the self-defeating capacity to forget the big picture while hacking in the weeds.
- Set short-term goals and deadlines.
#4. Seek input, but whatever you do, make decisions.
- The decision-making process interrupts progress, but stagnation prevails until decisions are made.
- The more fearful you are, the more necessary the decision. That doesn’t mean rush to judgement. It means, after investigation and input, make the best call and move forward.
- Don’t make too many decisions. Just make the ones that matter most.
- Determine next steps. Avoid the illusion that making a decision and getting something done are the same thing. Decisions enable, but don’t guarantee action.
- Ask, “Who does what by when?”
#5. Spend more time moving forward than solving problems.
- Problem-centric leaders are anchored to the past.
- Remarkable leaders seize opportunities that create the future.
- The future is about gaining and retaining customers.
- Set a goal and seize the best opportunity.
Which leadership skills are most essential to remarkable leadership?
What might you add to the list of essentials for remarkable leadership?
* Many of the ideas in this post are more fully developed in The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker