2 things to consider when developing the leadership mindset
TRANSCRIPT
2 Things To Consider When Developing
The Leadership Mindset
By David Kiger Image courtesy of rawpixel.com at Flickr..com
As per discussed by David Kiger in previous posts,
reflecting upon what has been learned is what makes
people become successful leaders. Under today’s
fast-evolving juncture, with an economy showing new signs
of profitable opportunities, leaders must take a step
forward in order to lead organizations towards the
accomplishment of corporate goals. Their attitude, and
how they will approach these challenges, will be certainly a
key. Thus, today’s leaders have quite a challenge: they
have got to put everything they have learned throughout
their careers into practice in order to improve the
performance of their companies for the betterment of both
the company itself and its employees.
This process starts by internalizing the fact that those people
seeking to become a resourceful and trustworthy leader may
need to adopt a whole new mindset away from what they are
used to—an epiphany or the sudden realization often awakened
by key experiences such as missed opportunities—. This shift
does not happen out of nothing: a mindset change requires
people to abandon old behaviors and habits that may no longer
suit the new juncture nor serve as a proper tool for leading an
organization. A mindset shift demands that individuals escape
their comfort zone as mentioned in previous articles, and accept
that complacency does, in fact, more harm than good. So, what
would be the first step in order to become a great, trustworthy
leader? Adopting a new mindset is unquestionably the first step
of the process of reinventing oneself as someone with the
capabilities to lead a group of people.
Nevertheless, a mindset change is easier said than done: it
requires people to change how they look at the way they
commonly engage with the people around them, how they
approach different challenges and situations and, most
importantly, how they make decisions and evaluate every
new chance and opportunity. It is, in short, getting rid of all
those unproductive behaviors and throwing the sheer array
of ego out of the window. This part, specifically, is
particularly challenging, mostly when individuals feel
compelled to adopt new traits regarding their leadership
skills.
People seeking to become leaders ought to pay special
attention to the fact that they should not expect the
circumstances, or their business, or the market to reshape
their way of thinking, but rather being absolutely aware of
how the juncture is evolving paying attention to the
dynamics in order to anticipate issues before it is too late
because, otherwise, if people were to wait, they would not
have enough time to prepare themselves for the
aforementioned mindset change, thusly making mistakes
while at it since it would be totally forced and unnatural.
Awkward, at best.
So, what should individuals consider when trying to
conceive a whole new idea about themselves becoming
trustworthy leaders?
Well, as suggested in the title of this blog post, there are at
least two things people should pay special attention to:
Strive to maintain a positive mental attitude in order to
perform much better
Today’s leaders are now capable of realizing opportunities
and new chances pretty much everywhere, every day, and
they have managed to successfully get the most out of
them as they come across them. Many times these are
simply opportunities that other are unable to see.
Maintaining a positive mental attitude allows leaders to
separate what it is important from the myriad of white noise
they experience on a daily basis, thus, they avoid falling
victim of growing tired of the neverending rat race.
To adopt a new mindset, especially a new leadership
mindset, it is of high importance to stop judging others and
begin to see people and individuals as potential
opportunities. Every individual has got something to offer,
and whenever they are given the opportunity to reach a
much higher potential, people tend to deliver more that
what is usually expected from them. This is particularly true
when they see their leader making a huge display of
positivity, which is why they will feel compelled to replicate
the same behavior. And that brings along only positive
things for the organization.
Do not lose your temper: mental toughness is key to becoming
stronger
Mental toughness is perhaps the most vital aspect when it
comes to addressing the leadership scenario. Leaders require
a much broader vision to continuously surf across unexplored
terrains and make the wisest decisions prior to recklessly
rushing into conclusions and mistakes. The tension points of
being a leader can be extremely daunting and
pressure-packed. Nonetheless, the leadership journey must
always go on as if it were a regular business. In this sense,
mental toughness is something that can be acquired over
time after having faced different challenges and difficult
situations. In order for individuals to become mentally strong,
they have got to be able to reinvent themselves knowing how
to react towards different eventualities.