If you can’t lead yourself, how can you lead anyone else? At this time of year, we all take time to reflect on what’s happened through the year coming to a close and what our expectations are for the year to come.
Earlier this month, I began the process of reflecting on my year and my leadership skills. Expecting greater outcomes in anything requires us to expect greater outcomes from ourselves. It’s easy to pass blame on others; doing so allows us to move onto something else. The problem is, we can’t pass blame onto someone else or some other thing. Leaders accept ownership and responsibility.
Look back on what you accomplished and what you were not able to accomplish this year. Can you be honest when you ask yourself about your level of leadership in each area? The more leadership we assume in ourselves, the greater the level of leader we will be with others.
Whether you are leading a team or leading customers, it first requires you to lead yourself. I’m passionate about leadership because I feel most shortcomings in business and life occur due to a leadership gap. Next year, I want you to be committed to increasing your level of ownership and accountability. The first thing I want you to be aware of is not passing blame on anything or anyone at any time. The next time a customer order gets messed up, don’t go telling the customer somebody else blew it. Your response is: “My mistake. I will get it corrected for you.” You be the change agent. You take the lead.
Recently, I was with the CEO of a company who commented how they dropped a major supplier. The supplier was an integral part of this company’s business. They dropped the supplier because the account manager they were working with was always making excuses and passing blame. The CEO shared how he knew mistakes happen and it was part of doing business in their industry. But what he was most concerned with was the attitude of the account manager and others. Each time an issue arose, blame was quickly assigned to some obscure person or department. Switching suppliers was not an easy decision, but it became a have to due to a lack of accountability and ownership. Leadership is ownership of the good and the bad.
How effective are you at leading yourself? As you enter into the new year, please ensure your goals are in place for next year and you have a personal plan to achieve them. To help you get off on the right foot, I’ve put together a Master Class focusing on, ‘Setting and Achieving Goals and Mapping Your Plan for Success in the New Year.’ I feel it’s important for you to take advantage of it! It is $197 and if you’re committed to 2019, you’ll view the investment in your leadership as cheap.
