Wednesday, February 29, 2012
Positive Leadership: Great Leaders Continue to GROW
Great leaders make the choice to GROW in four areas:
Gain Knowledge. Gain self-knowledge, knowledge of others,
your industry, and the field of leadership
Reach Out to Others. You need to be proactive about helping
others grow if you’re going to grow and learn. Teaching isn’t just about
sharing information, it’s also about helping people draw out new learnings for
themselves by the questions you ask.
Open Your World. You will add much more value as a leader if
you open up and expand your world with leadership experiences and life
experiences. Be on the lookout for experiences inside and outside work that
will make you a better leader over time.
Walk Toward Wisdom. Growth in wisdom has no formula, but it
almost always involves at least one of four elements: rigorous self-evaluation,
honest feedback, counsel from others, and time.
The two primary
reasons leaders get off track are ego and fear. For many leaders, their ego is
fueled by a heightened sense of confidence—you might call it overconfidence or
pride. This, combined with the fear of losing control, often prevents leaders
from serving people and growing.