EMERGING LEADERS
Before You Can Lead Others, You Must First Lead Yourself Derek Eckelhoff
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President
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Emerging Leaders Section
’ll begin by saying I’m honored to be serving as the 2021-2022 President of the Emerging Leaders Section (ELS) of the ABA. An active focus of the ELS council
is the cultivation of the next generation of industry leaders. As President of ELS, I have the opportunity to serve on the ABA Board of Directors alongside some of the best banking minds in the state. I know that I am surrounded by a wealth of leadership knowledge and I’m thankful to be learning from their decades of experience. One may ask, how did these great leaders start their leadership journey? I would venture to say that it started with an intentional effort to begin by leading themselves first. It is my belief that the building blocks of corporate leadership skills must start with YOU. These are what I feel to be important practices and methods for success in the pursuit of self-leadership. These are concepts from my own pursuit of leadership and are not exclusive to being successful in building internal leadership. Internal leadership can be obtained in many ways, these are merely brief suggestions. One could do a deep dive into the art of personal leadership, but I’ll be clear and concise.
MIND, BODY, AND SPIRIT •
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Keep your mind sharp. Be a continual learner, read for growth, and study great leaders. I’ve adopted and modified a reading strategy from a popular executive coach here in Northwest Arkansas. At any given time, I have three books going at once: one with a spiritual focus, one memoir (leadership, business, or military), and one with a great story (fiction or nonfiction). Keep your body fit. Staying fit, eating a healthy diet, and taking care of your body will have profound impacts on your health and well-being. It will help you have focus and energy to stay on the leadership path and will increase productivity. Look for a deeper meaning in life. Is it your faith, your family, people, etc.? This can help you connect with your “why” in life.
CREATE A PERSONAL MISSION STATEMENT (KNOW YOUR “WHY”) • •
Identify your core values, goals, and desired outcomes (this should be an annual endeavor – life is fluid!) Use your personal mission statement to inform and influence your decisions.
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Think about your actions and behaviors and whether they line up with your mission, goals, and how you want to be perceived.
FIND A MENTOR •
Be proactive in seeking out mentors in your industry and beyond. Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. There is way too much leadership wisdom out there left untapped. Don’t be afraid to ask someone to be your mentor – you might be surprised what they say.
It is vitally important to never stop improving. I routinely fail at my attempts to maintain the three points listed above. Sometimes, I adopt the one step forward, two steps back method. When this happens, I dust myself off and reset. Keep in mind that this is a journey and there will be setbacks. The goal is to take an honest personal inventory of your decisions and actions, and, of course, correct when needed. You must be intentional about creating a positive change in your life. Take it from me, I’m continually being humbled, and I consider my internal leadership skills to be a work in progress. Remember, leading yourself starts with you taking an active role in directing your life.
“The goal is to take an honest personal inventory of your decisions and actions, and, of course, correct when needed. You must be intentional about creating a positive change in your life.” 12
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SUMMER 2022
