Natural born leaders. This month I met one.
It’s like he had leadership in his bones. You know the type; they might not even manage many people, but you can tell they have the X factor.
They don’t come along that often but when they do, I’m always left pondering the same thing.
Is leadership innate and can it be learned by others?
It might be that some qualities lend themselves to leadership: charisma, empathy, and high self-confidence. My client came across well, but he didn’t have these qualities at extreme levels.
So, what was he actually doing that seemed to make a difference?
Here is what I notice about his leadership behaviours:
- He has a clear idea of the type of leader he wants to be and the difference he’s trying to make
- He prioritises the right things – I haven’t chased him to get back to me once
- He doesn’t shy away from straight talking – people know where they stand with him
- He welcomes feedback – he wanted to hear how he was perceived
- He is humble and realises others know more than him in many areas
- He wants to be a leader and manager – and isn’t trying to just shoehorn it around the ‘day job’
- He’s a good listener but isn’t trying to win a popularity contest
Turning these insights into something useful
✔ Score yourself out of 5 against each of these areas
✔ Identify where you are currently strong. Can you bring this into more areas of your life and work?
✔ Which areas would bring you the biggest impact if you were to work on them?
✔ Identify 2 things you can do this week that will help you develop to become an even stronger leader.
I can help you
You are more likely to commit to this experiment if you tell someone. So, reply to this e-mail with what you plan to try out. And if I have any suggestions of how you might dial it up I’ll let you know!