“If you could kick the person in the pants responsible for most of your trouble, you wouldn’t sit for a month.” – Theodore Roosevelt
Time and again, the greatest stumbling block to a leader’s success comes back to the leader. Self-leadership precedes successful leadership. People want to know that you can lead yourself well before they give you the chance to lead them well. It starts with you. It starts with me.
I sat down with my legal pad and started to jot down some of the areas I need to gauge, measure, and reflect on in my effort to lead myself well. A leader who leads him or herself well will invest time in self-evaluation. I would encourage you to use the following list in your own self-analysis.
1. Your perspective.
How do you view the world? How do you view the problems you are currently facing?
2. Your passion.
What keeps you up at night and wakes you up early in the morning? What would you invest yourself in whether you received payment or not?
3. Your position.
Your position is a platform. How can you best use your position to move the organization forward?
4. You persistence.
Do you have the ability to keep people focused on the goal, the vision, the mission? Can you remain positive in the face of difficulties?
5. Your personal philosophy.
Everyone has a different leadership style. Is your philosophy a good fit for what the organization is trying to accomplish?
6. Your priorities.
What do you spend your best, most productive time doing? Are you doing what’s most important or what’s most urgent?
If you’ve served in a leadership position for some length of time, those whom you lead could probably answer these questions for you. They already have a good idea what your strengths and weaknesses are. They’re just hoping you know it.
Spending time in self-evaluation may be the best investment you could make in your leadership today.
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