Theories of leadership. Business School. Seminars. Books. We are not lacking in information about how to be a good leader. But if that is true, why is effective leadership such a rare commodity? Humor me for a moment, and start counting the people you have worked with or for that you would classify as great leaders. I will make you a bet you will not need all of your 10 fingers. So why, if we know so much, and we’re so smart, aren’t we better at this leadership thing? Consider the possibility that we have overlooked one of the most significant markers of effective leadership: knowing yourself really, really well.
Self-awareness gives you a leadership edge? Yep, sure does. But the self-awareness I’m talking about is much more than “me generation” navel gazing. It’s the willingness to take a hard, clear look at oneself in order to answer some essential questions: What are my strengths? My weaknesses? What frightens me? Angers me? Grieves me? What do I hold in highest esteem? What are my values? My dreams? My aspirations? What am I willing to do to be successful? Do I like myself? Am I willing to be real with colleagues, friends and family? What is my leadership style? Am I directive or collaborative? Strategic or tactical? Superb in a crisis, or gifted at maintaining balance?
These are some of the questions that help us find our leadership foundation, but far too few of us take the time to ask them, or to consider that our authentic selfhood is integrally linked to how – and how well -- we lead. In addition, it’s sometimes hard to accept that there are many successful leadership styles, or that sometimes the same person may be called on to lead in very different ways. When I spent several years in between corporate roles as an executive coach, many of my clients were facing the challenge of modifying their formerly effective style to fit a new organizational culture. We had to dig beneath all they knew about leadership as a theory to find that essential self they hadn’t really spent much time thinking about or working with. Caught up in the day-to-day challenges, and believing that there was only one way to be successful, they had locked themselves into a one-trick-pony strategy, and needed new responses to their new challenges in order to get back in the game.
Leadership is not a cookie-cutter proposition. Though there are basic principles that remain constant, leadership styles are as unique and different from one another as the human beings who carry them. I count among my list of effective leaders a gentle, soft-spoken introvert and a wildly energetic, take-that-hill extrovert. They have each had their struggles to find the right match between their style and the organization, but they have both thrived within their leadership roles. The most successful leaders remain congruent to their underlying authentic self, and they map that self judiciously to the culture and expectations of their situation. We can learn a valuable lesson from them…knowing ourselves really, really well will not only transform our leadership effectiveness, but also bring new vitality into the organizations we lead.
______________________________________________
Courtney Behm, MA, MBA
Senior Program Manager, i365, A Seagate Company
Self-awareness gives you a leadership edge? Yep, sure does. But the self-awareness I’m talking about is much more than “me generation” navel gazing. It’s the willingness to take a hard, clear look at oneself in order to answer some essential questions: What are my strengths? My weaknesses? What frightens me? Angers me? Grieves me? What do I hold in highest esteem? What are my values? My dreams? My aspirations? What am I willing to do to be successful? Do I like myself? Am I willing to be real with colleagues, friends and family? What is my leadership style? Am I directive or collaborative? Strategic or tactical? Superb in a crisis, or gifted at maintaining balance?
These are some of the questions that help us find our leadership foundation, but far too few of us take the time to ask them, or to consider that our authentic selfhood is integrally linked to how – and how well -- we lead. In addition, it’s sometimes hard to accept that there are many successful leadership styles, or that sometimes the same person may be called on to lead in very different ways. When I spent several years in between corporate roles as an executive coach, many of my clients were facing the challenge of modifying their formerly effective style to fit a new organizational culture. We had to dig beneath all they knew about leadership as a theory to find that essential self they hadn’t really spent much time thinking about or working with. Caught up in the day-to-day challenges, and believing that there was only one way to be successful, they had locked themselves into a one-trick-pony strategy, and needed new responses to their new challenges in order to get back in the game.
Leadership is not a cookie-cutter proposition. Though there are basic principles that remain constant, leadership styles are as unique and different from one another as the human beings who carry them. I count among my list of effective leaders a gentle, soft-spoken introvert and a wildly energetic, take-that-hill extrovert. They have each had their struggles to find the right match between their style and the organization, but they have both thrived within their leadership roles. The most successful leaders remain congruent to their underlying authentic self, and they map that self judiciously to the culture and expectations of their situation. We can learn a valuable lesson from them…knowing ourselves really, really well will not only transform our leadership effectiveness, but also bring new vitality into the organizations we lead.
______________________________________________
Courtney Behm, MA, MBA
Senior Program Manager, i365, A Seagate Company
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