But how do you *really* get better as a leader?
The cycle of leadership
Sometimes I feel like I'm having a bit of an existential crisis.
I want everyone to work in an environment that allows them to meet their potential.
I want you,*|IF:FNAME|* ,*|ELSE:|* *|END:IF|* to lead these high performance environments and allows others to reach their potential.
I want you to be a beacon of leadership greatness.
This week I received a newsletter from Peter Cook from Thought Leaders. It said this;
"The deal I strike with my support team... is that they make my life easier and I make their life better."
Imagine if every manager had this approach to their team members - they make your life easier, you make their life better.
I know it's not the current reality (hence me having an existential crisis and wondering if I'd be better off as a barista when I KNOW I can change people's environments for the better).
What stops us? Busy-ness (which is a separate topic altogether) and information overload.
We consume A LOT of information. All the things we could / should be doing more / better / less. Most of it makes complete sense, we are intelligent people and fully understand the benefits and drawbacks of our habits.
Over the last three weeks we looked at the three elements of leadership; know your stuff, know your team and know yourself.
But what next?
We cannot develop as leaders in a vacuum. This is not a solo activity. We need to get other people involved.
The cycle of leadership [to be sung to the tune of the Lion King's 'Circle of Life'] needs to be applied to these three elements to bring them to life.
It starts by choosing to LEARN. Directly by attending a workshop or reading a book (or your favourite weekly leadership newsletter) or indirectly from seeing role models of others.
For a lot of people it stops here. Done. I know, therefore I am.
But knowing about the existence of a gym does not get us fit (sadly). We need to go and practice and do (or ACT) on our knowledge. And yes, it might make us sweat a bit.
We then need to test our new habits or skills - are they working? Have we gone too far? We need to get feedback (and feedforward) about our progress from others and LISTEN to it.
Then we can really start to LEAD, and role model great habits of leadership to our teams.
This cycle looks different for everyone and depending on who you are and what you're working on, the timings will become more or less protracted.
And, because it's a cycle it doesn't end here. Leadership development is iterative - as you progress and work in different teams, contexts, projects and organisations, you'll need to keep up the cycle of learn -> act -> listen -> lead.
Build the habit of leadership
Learn - this probably doesn't require anything new - pick something you've already learnt about leadership you're not already practicing.
Act - try a different way of doing things, add it to your to do list.
Listen - ask your team how you're doing and how you could be better (focus on the future).
Lead - practice, refine and role model.
Further reading
Marshall Goldsmith's 'What got you here won't get you there' is a fantastic book to get started on a journey of development as a leader and create real, sustainable change.
Catch up: this week on LinkedIn
How was your week?
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Quick Tip: eat the frog 🐸 🍴
"Swallow a toad in the morning if you want to encounter nothing more disgusting the rest of the day." Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794)*
Make the first thing you do in the morning the most important task of the day, before you've had a chance to get distracted by emails / OPA (other people's agendas).
My most productive days involve NO EMAIL before 10.30am - it's amazing what you can do in two hours.
🐸Do it:
Block this 'frog time' out in your diary so no meetings can creep in
Plan what you'll do during that dedicated time in advance (I like to do this as my last task the day before)
Plot 'email time' into your day in 2-3 contained time blocks
Rinse and repeat a couple of days a week
Feel smug about how productive you are
*You may have heard this quote attributed to Mark Twain but this is unsubstantiated and seems to originate from French writer Nicolas Chamfort c1790.
Want to see your management or leadership challenge addressed with helpful advice and resources? Email me at steph@stephclarke.com and let me know what topics you'd like me to include in future newsletters.
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