What Does It REALLY Mean To Be a Leader?
Leadership can connote slightly different things for different people. But overall, what it means to embody a leader will require similar mindsets, actions, energy, and skills from everyone. And it can also be draining, because of how much energy that takes. But for those that want to be fantastic founders, you must become fantastic leaders.
There are some common traits of leaders which you can read about here, but today we’ll be focusing on that energy - in other words, how you keep up your energy so that you can remain effective as a leader under difficult circumstances.
Dealing with the BS - Resilience
Some of the things on today’s list are skills, like this one. We’ve talked about resilience before, so let me summarise the most important elements that are most relevant to today’s discussion.
Being a leader is very difficult, and often wears you down. There’s a balance between creating a strategy and supporting and guiding others to execute that strategy to manage. Leadership can be exhausting even on a good day, and completely overwhelming on those bad days. Making decisions that impact the business and a team of individuals who all have their own lives and are relying on you, can really wear you down.
Being resilient is the key to dealing with leadership challenges effectively and boosting leadership performance to thrive in your leadership position. So, how do you work on that skill?
Getting back up - even if you need to take a break before you can do it, don’t give up completely. Understand that when things go wrong, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t keep going. It just means you’re not quite there yet. The journey is long.
Prepare to fail - Things are definitely going to go wrong. You must be prepared for that. It’ll become easier over time not to get too down when it does, and to try again with something later.
Pivot if needed - sometimes resilience is about changing tactics when something goes wrong. Perhaps that harsh feedback doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give up, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t have any merit at all. Listen to it, because there might be elements of something to learn. Maybe a change is needed to finally get something over the line or to get it work. Maybe your exact idea wasn’t quite right, but that doesn’t mean you’re not cut out to be a founder. As long as you’re able to accept what happens, solutions will appear!
Inspirational
Inspiration means different things to different people. Not every leader can be boiled down to the same bullet points, but there are some commonalities that make a team, audience, or community more likely to rally behind someone.
Even if someone doesn’t think of themselves as inspirational, someone might still aspire to be like them. So what are some of the most common things that create an energy of inspiration, aspiration, and drive to work on what others love?
Leaders are also always trying to learn and improve. This includes actively seeking feedback and understanding from others. When leaders create an environment where feedback isn’t just helpful, but is in fact very valued, people around you are more likely to voice their thoughts and bring the best ideas to the table. It also inspires you team to also try to learn and improve, and seek feedback from you and each other.
Respect is mutual
Every person around you has a relationship to you of some kind. These relationships are not merely between customers and the company’s staff but among all staff as a whole. So, if you have great practices in place, such as a strong Cause to rally for, virtues that instil energy into the business, and more, then this helps unite your organisation in the common goal of delivering the optimal customer experience based on service and respect.
Respect is a key marker of great leaders when it comes to working effectively with people. Being fair in dealings with staff, rewarding successes, using failures as lessons to learn from instead of to chastise, and more can all show respect.
Respect is also a two-way street. Earn your respect by getting results, and acknowledge others and act like they’re worth respecting, and you’ll start to create a culture of respect.
Vision, Virtues, and a Cause
This brings me to that note about having a reason to be with you. Why should someone want to be a part of your organisation? Why should they back you, and be on that journey with you instead of others?
The difference between a team member and a leader is perspective. Leaders don’t think of their position in the company as just a job and a paycheck, but rather a platform from which they can positively affect the business, its employees, and its customers. So here’s our challenge to you: can you cultivate a culture of leadership, where people feel inspired by your vision of the world as affected by your organisation, and to be leaders in their own right? Imagine how enjoyable the air and mood of your office will feel in that environment, compared to a standard stuffy corporate environment.
Without a sense of purpose, it’s hard for your team to feel motivated. Encourage them to see the intention behind your goals and work, because it will enable them to feel like they have a meaningful part to play. It also encourages accountability, because, with a bigger picture in mind, a human being is more likely to put all of themselves into something without being told to. They aren’t doing it just for a paycheck.
In conclusion
Look, different people have different natural tendencies based on their context and who they are. But there are common skills, mindsets, and more that make a great leader. And you’ll be most tested when things go wrong, so keeping your energy up and being a leader with great positive energy is so important for long-term success.
If you want to read my full breakdown in my free e-book In Search of Leaders: An Initial Exploration.
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About Seven
Hey friends! I’m Seven - I write about challenges and opportunities affecting leaders across business. I release a weekly newsletter and a podcast, helping folks understand the leadership journeys and challenges out there, so we can better understand our purpose, place, and potential. The goal: to learn about what it means to be a leader, to support leaders, to find leaders, and to discover the leader within.
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Lots of love, and here’s to your success!