How to Take Charge of Your Leadership Trajectory Today
Growth isn’t an accident. We grow on purpose or not at all.
You’re stuck if you can’t identify the leadership behavior you’re developing today. If you can’t describe it, it isn’t happening.
Take charge:
Short-sighted leaders are too concerned about being in charge of others. Take charge of your own development.
Developing your own leadership is tougher than helping others develop theirs.
Change trajectory by choosing a neglected leadership behavior to practice. After you choose, narrow your focus. Don’t change everything. Change one thing.
Daily nudges are better than weekly leaps.
Affirm character.
Take charge of your trajectory by rising above ambiguous “Good job” affirmations, for example. Affirm character. Notice initiative, transparency, candor, or grit.
An affirming statement begins, “I noticed.”
- I notice that you’re committed to the best interest of your colleagues.
- I notice that you’re great at working on your own.
- I notice that you practice forward-facing curiosity.
Even higher:
Take affirmations to the next level by connecting them to business objectives. “I notice that you’re committed to the best interests of your colleagues. That’s going to serve you well when you challenge people to reach higher.”
Face discomfort:
Perhaps you’re uncomfortable affirming character.
Discomfort with a leadership practice indicates it’s an important stretch for you.
It’s scary to shift mindsets.
You might be so controlled by negatives that the thought of looking for positives seems out of place.
We neglect things so long that they feel awkward when we re-engage with them. That’s the reason to lean in.
A little discomfort indicates growth. Sticking with comfortable behaviors indicates stagnation.
Affirmation walk-about:
Give yourself permission to walk around once a day affirming the character of your teammates.
Affirmations are elevators.
Focusing on what’s wrong is one reason there’s a dark cloud over your department. Circling problems is one reason they persist.
How might leaders take charge of their leadership trajectory?
And don’t forget to affirm yourself! I too often beat myself up internally, making it harder to affirm others. I started an email folder “atta-boy” to remind me of good things and look at that periodically to remind me how important affirmations can be.
Wow! Great insight. Many have a loud inner critic. That critic spills out on others. We might feel uncomfortable acknowledging our own success.
Great post Dan. I notice that you always seem to be talking about very relevant topics and I appreciate your support in making me a better leader.
How was that? 🙂
“Circling problems is one reason they persist” is a great line and I will try to remember it when issues are first visible in my team. That ks for your help.
Hey Eric. Thanks for the pat on the back. It feels good.
You may be like me. I tend to circle the drain. We can train ourselves to seek solutions more than circling problems.
“A little discomfort indicates growth. Sticking with comfortable behaviors indicates stagnation.” I always have to remind myself of this when I start a new project or if I change roles. I dislike that feeling of discomfort as I learn a new role. I have to work on keeping my confidence up and remind myself of the great feeling 2 or 3 years down the road after I have made myself a more well rounded individual/professional.
Thanks Patrick. You have my respect and appreciation for sharing your own story. It’s encouraging to see others on the path of growth.
We grow when we acknowledge we need to grow.
Thank you.
Your welcome.
Great points Dan! I have found “how can I help you today”? Catches many off guard. It gives them a sense someone actually cares. You’d be amazed at the responses that develop from a simple how question. Then again you know with your back round, I’;m sure “you noticed that” many times teaching!
Thanks Tim. I think the cornerstone of daily leadership includes regularly asking, “How can I help?”
Great blog today! This really makes you think about things you normally wouldn’t think of. Such as just saying “good job”…I find that a lot of people ,including me, says this a lot, probably too much now that I am thinking about it. It is a vague connotation that doesn’t hold much to it. Explain yourself a little more if you want to give someone a compliment! Love that idea. Another thing that doesn’t get brought up much is, as a leader, you pretty much are others focused and do not think much about developing yourself. While it is important to focus on others you still need to continue to grow yourself.
I also loved the “stop focusing on the negative of others, that’s why you have a dark cloud over your department”. It is so true! There are some days the department is putting out so many fires that there indeed feels like everyone is just feeling down. Mainly it is because all of the fires are anywhere from small issues to large ones. On those days, we need to remember to acknowledge the good and positive attributes of everyone on the team.
Love the suggestion for affirmation walk-abouts. Intentional affirmations will change your attitude and your practice. We talk about the importance of seeing the good and focusing on what works instead of dwelling on what doesn’t, but often let the dark cloud get in the way of the sunshine. It’s also important to note, the act of affirmation is not just cutesy feel good fluff. Affirmations are also feedback. Meaningful feedback is most effective when it is specific (avoid those “good job” generalizations as much as possible) and timely. Excellent post!
Imparting knowledge.
Thank you sir.
Employees have different levels of self-esteem, some good some not so good depending on their life circumstances. When leaders build the self-esteem of individuals through positive affirmations, they build the collective self-esteem of an organization which then becomes an unstoppable force. When you build people, they in turn build a sustainable business.