Funny thing, but when we talk about how to be an effective leader, we often focus on how to influence and inspire others. However, the first and most essential element of effective leadership actually lies within the leader’s own heart. I’m not just talking about the motivation, desire, or passion to be a meaningful leader, I am talking about the core sense of efficacy that a person has about their own ability to actually make it happen! Yes, folks, that’s right, before you can even consider your ability to effect the behavior of others, you must first BELIEVE that you can!!!! Lets look at the things that can help you assess and build that incredibly necessary belief: Leading Yourself, Self Awareness, and Believing in Yourself.
The first ingredient in believing that you can lead stems from your success is LEADING YOURSELF. Are you disciplined enough to take care of yourself – including building your knowledge base, attending to your health and feeling proud of your appearance? These three elements are fundamental to being a person that respects both themselves and respects others enough to bring their best self every day. No one expects perfection, but a bit of energy and care about how you prepare yourself to carry on throughout the day speaks volumes – both in your own mind and to others!!!
The second ingredient in leading yourself is the level of your SELF AWARENESS. How often do you stop and reflect on your behaviors and interactions with others and consider the affect they have as well as the results you are getting? When was the last time you asked someone to give you feedback on how you are possibly being perceived? And when you have received feedback, do you process it and consider how you can integrate it into your effectiveness, or do you get defensive, shrug it off, or play victim? There are numerous resources, many are free, that you can use to raise your self-awareness about how you operate, behave, and possibly are perceived. {Insert link here}
The third and most basic ingredient to believing you can lead others is simply BELIEVING IN YOURSELF. Do you believe in your abilities to accomplish tasks and goals? Do you trust your judgement and feel like you can do whatever you want or wish to do? Are you willing to convey your opinions and ideas in a confident way and step forward to have an impact on others? I like to think of this as being on a spectrum, with high belief in self on one side, and low or no belief in self on the other. Now think about where you would place yourself on that spectrum if you were just thinking internally about your answer and not really sharing your thoughts with the world. Then, think of where you would rank yourself if you were telling others how much you believe in yourself. I find that with myself and many others, we tend to come up with two different answers – one where we are too humble and have higher inner belief and lower outer, and on the other hand a lower inner belief that comes off to the world as higher. Either way, an honest refection of your overall belief about your ability to effectively communicate and inspire for motivation and engagement of others to fulfill a goal is essential and very helpful when working to develop your leadership skills.
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