5 Steps to Improve Your Leadership
Ah, leadership—the noble art of herding cats, juggling flaming swords, and walking a tightrope over a pit of fiery criticism. 😂
On a serious note, it can feel like we are balancing a thousand things, and facing criticism with every decision we make but in truth, it’s part of what we signed up for when we pursue developing ourselves as a leader. I’d like to share five down-to-earth steps to improve your leadership that I believe have helped me grow over the years.
Number 1: Learn About Yourself
Self-discovery. The lost art of knowing yourself. This is where you journey deep into the recesses of your soul with nothing but a flashlight to figure out what’s going on inside! If this sounds like therapy or something similar that’s because part of this process is about looking into the past to understand our present. Now, I don’t for one second believe everyone is going through an existential crisis but I think, eventually, we do sooner or later. The question is a matter of when not if. Or worse…maybe you don’t go through this crisis…ever…which means we’ve lived on this earth without knowing ourselves. That’s a scary thought.
So, take the time to peel back the layers of your personality like an onion (minus the tears, hopefully) and find your strengths, weaknesses, quirks, and tendencies. You might be a fearless lion or a timid soul, but understanding yourself is the first step on the path to leading yourself and to leading others.
Number 2: Create a Plan for Yourself
The art of planning—spreadsheets, timelines, color-coded sticky notes, and alarms lore. At our places of work, we do everything we can to make sure we don’t miss meetings, hit milestones, and succeed so we can keep our bosses happy.
But what about ourselves?
We craft roadmaps for others to get where they need but what about our own roadmaps? We all follow a roadmap in our life. The thing is we don’t always create that roadmap. Someone is building it for us, from the schedules at work, our family members, and friends we don’t necessarily feel we like but are too afraid, to be honest with. All these roadmaps exist in our lives but did we build them?
Setting SMART goals (that are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound) can help us chart a course toward leadership. Again, we to lead ourselves first before we lead others. Remember, Rome wasn't built in a day, but with a solid plan and a bit of determination we can start hitting markers along the way through our leadership journey.
Number 3: Start a Tendency Journal
To be honest, I struggle to keep a traditional journal. Not because it doesn’t fulfill my needs but because I tend to have tons of notes with ideas written in all of them.
I suggest keeping at least one journal or multiple journals to keep your thoughts, learnings, ideas, and experiences in. Some people can structure and organize one journal into a great repository of information. And then there’s the person that uses appear, notebooks, a phone, and everything in between. Find the way it works best for you and do that.
Now, the tendencies. Every time you notice a tendency you have (to overtalk, interrupt, easily frustrated) write it down.
Start a tendency journal and take note of your habits, patterns, and behavioral quirks. Are you a chronic procrastinator? A perpetual people-pleaser? A serial snack smuggler? Whatever your tendencies may be, shine a light on them, and the shadows of self-awareness will begin to present itself. When you write it down your mind will tell you it’s something you need to work on. The more you do it the better you’ll get at spotting them. Spotting them Is the first step in getting better.
Number 4: Get Better Sleep
If you stay up all night thinking of the future, making financial plans, or trying to figure out your next career move then let me say—YOUR ARE NOT ALONE. It’s hard to sleep when our minds are working and racing nonstop. But then we don’t get rest. We move through our days feeling less than at the peak.
Create a bedtime ritual by banishing (yes, banishing) electronic devices (yes, the phone) from the bedroom (yes, away from your bed). This is incredibly tough to do. I mean…why not do a little scrolling before we count sheep? Studies show that light emitted from our screen (blue light) influences our circadian rhythm, affecting alertness and heart rate. So, at night(yes, at night) these devices do bad to our eyes and our sleep (yes, I know you’ve heard this before).
This is why we have to stop it.
A well-rested mind is necessary for us to lead ourselves and lead others well. Anything less than that could be a problem.
Step 5: Focus on Physical Health
Good physical health not only strengthens our bodies but also enhances our mental clarity and emotional resilience, leading to a more balanced life. Regular exercise, a nutritious diet, and prioritizing sufficient rest are essential for—ok, ok, we hear this time and time again, but it’s so easy to forget and prioritize and that’s why I bring it up.
We’re more busy than ever, and continuously surrounded by our devices. This is precisely why practicing mindfulness, meditation, and self-care activities nurtures the mind and soul, fostering inner peace and emotional stability. When we prioritize our physical health, we empower ourselves to live fully, with energy, clarity, and a profound sense of connection to ourselves and the world around us.
Improving our leadership needs not be a somber affair—it can be a journey of self-discovery and full of many different tools that help us enjoy the process. So, embracing the journey doesn’t have to be full of negative self-talk or doubt, it can be something amazing. As cheesy as this following phrase might be it holds an incredible truth.
It’s not about the destination, it's about the journey.
#leadership #learnleadership #becomeunstuck
Hey! Thanks for reading!
If you’re interested in becoming unstuck in your leadership journey click the link below for a free coaching session!
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The Art of Leadership starts with understanding that we are fighting for the highest possible good of those we lead. Coupled with an understanding of who we are, who they are and the right tools, we can reach some amazing heights as we become leaders others WANT to follow not have to follow.
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