Be Yourself…Only Better!
Leadership is not a plateau one can reach or a goal to be achieved. It’s a process, a muscle group you must exercise and a process you must adopt. Good leaders never stop growing, learning, or exercising their leadership muscles. But these actions don’t exist in a vacuum. Good leaders understand that their success and growth comes from a series of mindsets and decisions that account for not only their strengths and weaknesses, but also market conditions and team support. With that in mind, here are some ways you can be “you” but also become a better leader in the process.
Be proud of where you’ve been
Too many leaders are so forward focused they forget to take strength from where they have been. Sure, looking back there will be some mistakes and regrets. But the very fact that you made it through those mistakes means you have done some things right. You are where you are because you made good calls, and learned from your mistakes. Embrace that, because, those who forget their mistakes are doomed to repeat them.
Be willing to make new mistakes
Some leaders get to a certain point in their career and start to plateau. They stop taking risks and start getting comfortable. In truth, what they really are is scared. Comfort has nothing to do with it. While, as you get older, you might not have the freedom to fail as spectacularly as you did when you were young. You still have the capacity to try, miss, learn, and grow. Of course, trying new things is also how you reach new levels of success. No achievement comes without risk. Considered risk, sure, but if the potential for failure is not on the table either you are not risking “big” enough … or you are lying to yourself.
Results vs. style
While leadership style and business style are important in context, nothing is more important than results. In sports, an ugly win is still a win. Whether mistakes were made, or the score was close, a victory is still a victory. That reality should elevate the “win” over the style in your mind. Too many leaders get worked up over how their team looks, but they forget to focus on what it takes to overcome and succeed. Don’t be that guy.
Drink from a different well
When challenges come up, some people have certain tendencies. They like certain solutions or approaches and seldom deviate from those. Well, those people are easy to beat. You just put them in a situation where the well they like to drink from will come up empty, and you have them beat. To avoid that circumstance, you need to be ready, willing and able to drink from another well, to find different solutions, and to follow different — and unfamiliar — paths.
Taken together, these steps will not guarantee your success, but they can increase the odds by making you a better person and a better leader.
Gennady Barsky is the CFO of JetSmart and a real estate mogul from NYC.