Leading you.

Happy Valentine's Day...or happy Sunday. For me, I have never really celebrated Valentines' day, yet many people do. Being that it is a day of celebrating love in many people's eyes, it was timely to get writing this next post. Leading you.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I have had some time in the leadership space. Time to reflect and think about what it takes to be the best I can be. The first bit I am going to share is that there is no magical course that we can rock up to and suddenly we have made it. There is no line to cross over, where we announce to the world that we have arrived. We are done and that is it... we made it, we have crossed over and there is nothing left to learn. The phrase 'lifelong learning' can be thrown around a bit without a real commitment and understanding of what this means in the realm of leadership. So today, I'll share a few little learnings I have had in the space of self leadership.

It starts with you. As we cannot give and share, to and with others, what we don't already have within ourselves. I need to continue to do the work leading myself first, every single day, to show up to give to others.

One of the best pieces of advice... well actually it was a question at the time. Yet one that I have asked myself every day for the past 4 years. 'Who do you need to be as a leader?' The most powerful word BE. Who and how am I being? I have shared this quite a bit with other emerging leaders and I want to share what I really mean. The 'being' part does not translate into 'being someone else'. It is 'being the best YOU that you can be. It is surrounding yourself with those who have done and are doing what you aspire to achieve. It is seeking out other leaders who have gone before you and have significant influence. Yet... to do this I must first have deep self awareness and emotional intelligence to be really honest with myself. To be curious and ask great questions of myself first. To be completely open to feedback and seek it out from those amongst my team. Those that are closest to me personally and professionally. Then listen. Really listen and reflect on what I hear. Because to be better than I was yesterday, I must do something different tomorrow.

There are many ways this type of thinking translates into daily practice and it can vary from person to person. One of the daily practices that has become habit and a must for me, is to listen to or read the work of other great leaders. Every day. For me I rarely read a book cover to cover. I jump from book to book or podcast to podcast based on what I feel I need to learn or re-learn. To get a different perspective on the content and try applying it in different ways. Then keep practising the principles I learn about, then listen and read over and over again. At the end of each day reflect on how it went, and how I may try something tomorrow. At times I am asked how do you fit it in? How do you have time? My answer is always the same. I choose to. I listen to 50 minutes of content to and from work and then I might read 15-20 minutes at night, and a few times a week at the gym, another 45 minutes of podcast. Decide to do the work and lead yourself first.

It doesn't always go well and that it is okay. Being courageous enough to have a go and be willing to get it wrong is truly where the learning will appear. Then reflect. Debrief with a trusted colleague or loved one. Then write it down. I choose to write it down like here, or I have a sketch book where I like to draw, jot my ideas and thinking. There is so much more in the space of leading self, I'll save some more for next week.

What will you do tomorrow to make leading self a priority?