Are you a good leader? How do you know? Hopefully it’s not because someone who works for or cares for you told you so. If that’s the case, how can you be assured it isn’t lip service? You can’t.
To find out if you are a good leader, a self audit of leadership must be conducted from time to time. Leaders do not depend upon outside feedback alone to determine leadership ability. True leaders invest time and effort for self reflection and assessment on a regular basis. The best place to start is self awareness and taking note when interacting with others.
Look in the Mirror
Does your viewpoint ever radically change or reverse based upon the input of others? If not, you may be stuck in your own viewpoint. This can hinder leadership at its very core. When leaders allow subconscious bias and opinions to control decisions, leadership ceases to exist. Good leaders look in the mirror and question their motives by changing the way they look at things. This takes awareness, wisdom, and a little bit of courage.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change” – Wayne Dyer
This is powerful, but necessary to innovate and problem solve. One tried and true way to test self awareness is to take notice when decisions/viewpoints are questioned. Do you step back and reset the thought process and ask for more information or just barrel through on the same stream of thought?
However, don’t get obsessed with self-reflection and awareness only. Look to those around you to measure leadership skills too.
Leverage Abilities
Are the members of the team utilizing their abilities to further the success of the team? As a leader it is paramount to inspire and nurture every member on your team. One way to determine if this is being done is take notice how information is being exchanged during collaborative meetings. Ask the question, am I pushing or pulling information from others?
This means are you, the leader, hoisting an ideas/agenda on the team or listening to the input of others? Leaders should inspire the team to tap into each member’s unique skill set and personal knowledge to come up with the best idea or solution. Good leaders do not set forth an idea and mold responses to meet a personal (often subconscious) agenda. The team is only as strong as its weakest member, so make sure all talents are being utilized.
Leadership, just like any skill set, evolves or goes extinct. Some people are natural leaders, but, make no mistake, they develop their leadership skills constantly. If you don’t, be prepared to lose touch and morph into a dictator instead of a leader.
Larry Lipman Helps Nurture Organizations
Larry of Fun Team Building can help large groups, small groups, inside and outside with corporate group activities including stimulating exercises and innovative ways for people to connect better than ever before! Call Larry Lipman (770-333-3303) and plan a team building session that will help everyone not only get on the same page, but have fun doing it, too!