Do you sometimes find yourself hearing about someone’s challenge or issue and then immediately you think about all the things they can do to either solve the issue or to better manage it? And quickly volunteer your solutions as sage advice to the person? Then as time moves on, you find yourself in a similar challenge, but don’t follow the sound advice you willingly dished out for someone else?
I think many of us fall into this trap from time to time and, full disclosure here, I must confess I recently did… You see, I had all the great suggestions for how I think my family members can care for their health more optimally, yet, I was not practicing my own advice. I think this comes down how well we are leading ourselves.
“If you want to be successful…. you cannot afford NOT to lead yourself well,” John C. Maxwell.
One important aspect of leading ourselves well is how we manage our priorities. Each of us have a different menu of priorities. What might be a priority for me may not be a priority for you and vice versa – which is fine. But there is a key priority that should be common to all because it directly impacts how we show up for any other priority and that is the priority of managing and growing ourselves.
As leaders, we hold ourselves as examples for our team members. Without investing in ourselves to consistently show up as our best selves, we cheat ourselves and our team members. We can appear disengaged, unaware and even uncaring, which all contribute to eroding morale and teamwork. So how do we as leaders bring our best to our teams? And how do we consistently show up as our best beyond just the scope of our workplace?
To answer this question, it is important for us to reflect on who we want to be. I know we are in the season of costumes with Halloween around the corner, but I don’t mean which celebrity or famous person we want to be. This has nothing to do with costumes or masks. Rather it is about our beliefs, our values, our character all pulled into who we are being as a person.
When I think about who I want to be, I ask myself regularly if I am showing up aligned to that vision for myself. I question what I am doing, how I am engaging, how I am using my time, the words I am using, the choices I am making to find out if they are serving me in being who I want to be or are they contradicting the vision for myself.
I am definitely not perfect, so some times when I ask myself these questions, I realize I might be out of alignment to the vision I hold for myself. I have two choices at that point: 1. Make an excuse or justification for the misalignment or 2. Own the responsibility for myself and course correct.
“Excuses are lies we tell ourselves so that it doesn’t have to be our fault,” – Nikkey Stott
I have committed to eliminating excuses. Blaming anything outside of myself for who I am causes me to give up control over my responsibility. But when I own my responsibility for myself, it empowers me change, to grow, to do the work I need to do for the result I am after.
“Don’t complain about the results you don’t have for the work you didn’t do,” – Jasmine Star
What is the vision you hold for yourself as a leader and are you doing the work you need to do to live into that vision? If you need support in developing your vision and the growth plan to get you there reach out today! Don’t let an excuse hold you back from being the leader you want to be. Book your next move here!
