"Leaders are born and then unmade."
Each of the recent posts have addressed a certain question. Here is the current list...
Born with what?
What is a leader?
Are leaders born with everything they need to lead?
What does unmade mean?
Today's question is, "What are the other moments that unmake leaders?"
First an explanation of the concept. I believe that people are born with most of the significant traits and qualities that they need to have a positive influence on others (which is what I believe effective leaders essentially do). I also believe that based on the type of leadership acts that a person needs to do to make their positive influence, they have to learn skills and strengthen their traits and qualities to be an expert leader. However, I believe the most important dynamic that prevents leaders from moving to the expert level is the unmaking process. This is where we experience certain moments that dilute, damage or delete traits that we were naturally born with.
So, we circle back around to our question for today, "What are other moments that unmake leaders?" (see this post to view the first two I discussed)
(The born-with trait is first and the unmaking moment is second...)
Enthusiasm for life - The Energy Scales Moment. The phrase "youthful enthusiasm" is used often to describe the energy level of young people. Interestingly enough it is also a trait identified in highly effective leaders. A multitude of books and article have been written on the critical trait of a high energy level. However, at some moment something changes and our scales of energy tip to the lazy, idle, drab, unexcited side. For many people, this one dynamic alone is sufficient enough to unmake their ability to move from an entry level leader to an expert level leader.
Affection to Care - The Inner World Moment. As a full-time leadership trainer, I am often called to teach people about the life skill of motivation. If I only have a few seconds to relate something tangible about how to get and stay motivated, I always say go help someone. This is the most useful and relevant strategy for getting and staying motivated over the long haul - to take your daily focus off of you and put it on others. Now, this doesn't mean that you neglect your personal well-being needs. It means that at some moment, people unmake their ability to be an expert leader by only living in and thinking about their own little inner world. By doing this, they dilute, damage or delete their ability to care for others. Expert leaders overcome the unmaking moments in life, they develop the skills necessary to lead in their circle of influence and then they get out of their inner world and consistently put their focus and attention on others.
(PLI Essential of Service-Minded)More to come...
[Click on a label below to see all posts for that Essential...]
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