Knee High by the Fourth of July
It’s almost July 4th. In Indiana the corn should be about ‘knee high’ by now. It's a simple way to gauge whether the crops are thriving at this stage of the growing season. Looking around, it seems this year’s crop is doing well. Have you ever wished there was such an easy way to measure your leadership development journey?
Consider this: Leadership can be distilled into three essential steps.
First, LEAD YOURSELF.
When you lead yourself, you are focused on your individual performance and increasing your personal effectiveness and performance. Your focus is on:
becoming more self-aware of your personality traits and strengths,
understanding your purpose and role,
practicing self-management,
establishing strong patterns of mental and emotional health,
and increasing time management and problem-solving skills.
As you become a skilled individual contributor to your organization, you also begin to build understanding of common leadership language.
The second step in leadership is to LEAD OTHERS.
When you lead others, you have transitioned from an individual performer to leading a team. Your focus will now be on:
building relationships to get work done,
dealing effectively with conflict, and
learning to successfully solve more complex problems.
In addition, you are focusing outward by developing others, building your social awareness and communication skills, and focusing more on process management and team execution.
The final step in leadership is to LEAD A FUNCTION.
Leading a function means you are leading a department or division or even a company. You are no longer focused solely on yourself or leading just your team, but have integrated to a cross-functional and external perspective in decisions. At this stage, you focus on:
setting vision and building toward the future,
balancing the trade-offs between the short- and long-term,
aligning your department with the organization for strategy implementation, and
understanding the complexity of internal and external dynamics and politics.
Whether you're focusing on yourself, leading others, or managing a function, it’s crucial to always seek opportunities for growth in your role. If you're contemplating your next step, start preparing by actively developing the skills needed for that role. In today’s fast-paced world, continuous growth isn’t just important—it’s essential. If you’re ready to grow, I’m here to help!