Leadership is about service. It is not about others serving you.
In fact, the greatest leaders in the world will tell you that serving the needs of others is the best trait of a great leader.
In a world that has murky leadership definitions and often poor examples of leadership in the media, I wanted to increase our understanding of true leadership in its raw form and wanted to shed some light on how to become clear on what it means to be a great leader.
Leadership has to have clarity. It means thinking, “we” long before thinking, “me”. This translates into relationships and crosses into every area of your life and vocation.
First, truths about leadership.
Leadership is hard.
Leadership is thankless.
Leadership can have no bounds.
Leadership is earned, not given.
Knowing this, becoming clear on who you are as a leader and how you are leading in your relationships and vocation are important for steps on getting clear as a leader.
In solitude, ask yourself these key questions:
- Who am I as a leader?
- How do I want to lead?
- Who am I leading?
- How can I serve others?
- How can I empower others to lead?
- How does my leadership reflect my integrity?
By answering and then reflecting back on these six questions, you will immediately improve your leadership clarity. This is a practice that I repeat multiple times until I have the clarity that I am seeking.
Sometimes we need to step back to move forward. Finding clarity as a leader is one of the wisest things we can do. Evaluating and reflecting on our role as a leader is a noble adventure which should be taken at least once per year. It is much harder to evaluate your leadership fairly than it is to practice being a great leader.
Great leadership provides great energy.
Reflective, evaluative leadership however, requires intrinsic mental and emotional energy.
***
Every summer when I visit my family in Nova Scotia I always try to get out for a canoe trip on a lake close to my house. I have found the past two years that being alone in a canoe in the middle of the lake is one of the most amazing things I can do for myself. It gives me the peace, tranquillity and solitude to evaluate and clarify my leadership. I typically reflect on these six questions, write in my journal, listen to nature all around me and fish the odd Bass. It is an incredibly rich experience which unveils deep clarity.
***
My encouragement for you today is to get clarity on who you are as a leader. If you are currently a leader, go through this process again to see if you are truly reaching your highest potential as a leader. If you don’t see yourself as a leader, start with the end in mind by answering these questions for yourself. You will be surprised by your thoughts, actions and results you receive from getting clarity as a leader.
Want to take your life, relationships and vocation to the next level? Send me an email to learn about my upcoming book: [email protected]
—
This post was previously published on Medium.
***
You Might Also Like These From The Good Men Project
 |
 |
 |
 |
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS.
A $50 annual membership gives you an all access pass. You can be a part of every call, group, class and community.
A $25 annual membership gives you access to one class, one Social Interest group and our online communities.
A $12 annual membership gives you access to our Friday calls with the publisher, our online community.
Register New Account
Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: Joshua Earle on Unsplash
