Reprinted
with permission by The NJFPA Reporter What is leadership? My definition is pretty simple: leadership is the ability to influence people to do things they might not otherwise do without a leader to guide them. Now that’s a broad definition, but it means that LEADERSHIP IS EVERYBODY’S BUSINESS, because everyone is in a situation (work, home, etc.) or a relationship (spouse, friend, parent) in which he or she is trying to get others to do things they might not otherwise do without a leader to guide them. And there are two types of leadership—internal, where we try to get ourselves to do something, and external, where we’re trying to get others to do something. Of course, we always start with ourselves, so internal leadership is the foundation on which we build external leadership. Internal leadership is what you use to change yourself, and change your life, so that by using external leadership to lead others, you improve your world. By the way, external leadership is NOT about controlling other people, or even controlling what other people do. As I used to tell my two boys when they were younger, we have enough trouble trying to control ourselves. No, all we can do is try to influence what others do, try to lead them. It’s not about controlling others. It is about trying to control OUR REACTIONS to what others do. So with that distinction between internal and external leadership, what specifically should you do to change yourself, change your life, improve your world? Let’s look at three things that I think are essential for unleashing the leader in you. First, find out where you are in terms of leadership skills and abilities. As someone once said, “You can’t know where you’re going, if you don’t know where you are.” So, your task is to find your specific leadership strengths and weaknesses, and there are many ways to do this. One involves formal assessments or surveys of your leadership. Even learning instruments like DiSC or Myers-Briggs can provide a lot of insight into your behavioral style. Or look at getting formal 360º feedback from those around you. Another way is simply ask others how they view you and your leadership abilities. Somehow, though, you must get an accurate assessment of your leadership strengths and weaknesses. Your second strategy for unleashing the leader in you is to pick a strength or weakness to focus on. If you’re looking at weaknesses, identify one weakness that is crucial to your success as a leader. For instance, one area of concern is credibility. In other words, how credible are you as a leader? Credibility comes from three areas that you control: the way you look; the way you talk; the way you act. All three must present a consistent image of leadership, so you need to look at your appearance, your verbal communication, and your actions to determine if they are conveying to others a sense of leadership. The final task is to map the specific actions you must take to improve your leadership. If your appearance needs improvement, make the changes. If your way of talking is holding you back, take a communications course, or get help with public speaking. And, if your actions aren’t consistent with leadership, change those actions, or if necessary eliminate those actions that detract from your leadership image. It’s up to you. You truly can be a much more effective leader. You can unleash the leader within. But you must find out where you are, identify areas that need changing, and then devise specific strategies (and rewards) for making those changes. |
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