Becoming a great leader must begin within. There’s a stage I call “getting ready to be ready”. It encompasses most of what we’ve been talking about.
Getting real with what has been happening.
Seeing and wanting intensely the possibilities.
Deciding. Committing “burn the ships level” to excellence.
Creating the time and space.
Slowing down.
Acquiring/ fine tuning knowledge and skills.
Practicing, observing, reinventing.
When I break it down into these “buckets” it looks like a lot. One might ask: Is it worth it? Do I have the time? Well, you’ve got to figure it out. I can just about tell you it’s worth it. But you’ll have to get a firm grip on that yourself. Your “why” for moving from good to great. What that would mean for you.
If you’ve found your why and gotten behind it, you’ll need to ask yourself: How am I going to get there? I can’t answer that for you in an email, but what I’ve given you is a powerful start. Notwithstanding that it’s high level, if you follow through on those bullets above you’ll most definitely be moving in the right direction.
Remember the Five Levels to Transformation? It starts at the bottom with information. Here are two great books I almost always have clients take in.
Leadership and Self-Deception
The Collaborative Way
Do this: If you’ve been leading by default quite a bit, this focus means you can’t do that anymore. You will need to decide on purpose: 1) I’m good the way I am. Or, 2) I’m going to move forward and see if I can become ready to commit to creating myself as the leader I want to be.
You do have to decide. You know too much to go straight back to your default.
Send these leadership emails to the other leaders in your circle. If you become committed to leadership excellence. Not just in theory but in being, becoming, and demonstrating. Then, that will begin to rub off on others around you very quickly. You’ll be more focused than ever on helping them become more effective leaders.
We’ll begin to shift gears in the next one. I’ve got no idea where we’ll go next. Kind of fun for me. I know for sure that because I am going to give that a slowed down, open space to land, it will land. We’ll be off to the races on the next exciting episode! 😊
If you missed any earlier emails in this series, you can find them here. And if you’d like more guidance on any of this, feel free to email me.
