Course 2, Discussion 2: Lead by example
Great Leadership, unsurprisingly, starts with yourself!
Practice what you preach. Lead by example. I am sure all of you heard these phrases. But why are they so iconic?
Because the journey starts with the first step and you are the person who is taking the initiative to lead -- Start a journey! So, you are the one who needs to take the first step before expecting others to do it.
To start with leading yourself, close your eyes and visualize two people: someone who inspired and encouraged you to be like them, and someone who discouraged you to be not like them.
Then, write down the good qualities of the person who inspired you as well as the qualities of the second person. You do not have to be specific with the details. Just a bulleted list.
Now, compare the list to yourself. Note the good qualities you have, the bad qualities you have, and give yourself a rating on a scale of 1-10. What we just did is identified your strengths and weaknesses and what you need in order to lead yourself. This allows you to create self-awareness.
Self-awareness is key to leading yourself in the right direction. But, leading yourself is not easy. Just being self-aware isn't enough. It's igniting the spark but not enough to catch the fire. To catch the fire, you need to be persistent with your practice, which is regular reflection. Be consistent with monitoring your efforts and holding yourself accountable.
You can't effectively lead others until you know how to lead yourself. That happens through Self-Observant Leadership: when you deeply understand your identity, compare it to your reputation (how others experience you) and then make meaning of the observations, and choose to adapt.
Exercise:
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
✒️ Respond to one of your peers in this thread
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@Hope
What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
- being self-aware
- consistency
- efficiency
- supportive/communicative
- being on time or even early
@heathermarie95
I'm glad that you were able to recognize those qualities about yourself. All the very best on your leadership journey!
@Hope
I learnt that I have to be aware about myself to lead me in the right direction. In addition to that I also have to be consistent with my efforts too.
@Hope This really made me look into my qualities, both bad and good!
I think that great leadership truly begins with yourself! If I want to become a better leader, I should guide myself before I guide others just like somebody in this post just said!
In a world where it's so easy to focus on how others think of us, this exercise really reminded me to first understand how I think of myself. It's a call to action to lead myself with the same energy and passion I hope to inspire in others!
@NeonDragon
i love your perspective on the exercise!! I’m really glad it helped you identify your good and bad qualities and helped you to understand leading begins with yourself. This was a pretty cool lesson
@Hope I learned about how things to avoid when leading by example
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I learned that to be able to lead we need to first identify our strengths and weaknesses and have self awareness to be able to help others do the same.
In terms of the exercise itself I learned that
I may have certain weaknesses that I tend to forget about so I’m glad this exercise reminded me of some things I need to improve on
and I also discovered I had certain strengths as well that could be described as good qualities which I think I can further improve onto build my skills.
@radiantUnicorn3506
good idea
@Hope
Through this exercise, I learned that I value empathy, purpose, and calmness under pressure, and I strive to lead in a way that uplifts others. It also highlighted that I can sometimes be too self-critical and overthink decisions, which can hold me back from fully trusting myself or delegating effectively. This self-awareness has shown me that while I have strong qualities as a leader, I need to focus on balancing my inner critic and being more decisive in certain situations.
@kabir22
I feel like I couldn't have described myself better. It's comforting to know I share these qualities with a fellow 7cups academy student. :)
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
This was tricky because I've often compared myself to others, especially if they have greater success than me. Or at least that's the way I see it. I am pretty self-aware and know my strengths lie in empathy and kindness. I guess what I wish I could emulate is confidence and the ability to stay motivated. These have been difficult for me as someone with GAD/Depression/CPTSD/ADHD, but I got to keep trying!
@Hope
@LovelyKittyCat
I love your never giving up attitude! It's inspiring and just so cool!
@kabir22 thank you so much!
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
i learned that i have to show all behaviors i want my team to do, being effective member gives inspiration to others to do the same
I like this idea! I also agree that we should do the same things we want those we work with to do, as otherwise, it can be unfair and lower people's motivation and passion. Thanks for sharing!
I learned that I have become similar to the leaders I admire and have grown apart from the qualities of those I do not. In addition to reflecting on people now, I also reflected on my own growth over time. Seeing how I have changed to become a leader who listens to the people I work with and is able to be collaborative has been very helpful and I hope I can continue to grow and be a personable leader who is able to be trusted by people I work with
@Hope
By engaging in this exercise, I was able to create a clear outline of my strengths and weaknesses, which consequently increased my self-awareness. Particularly, as it relates to my weaknesses, I realized that I need to make the necessary efforts and establish steps to improve and ultimately evolve as a listener. I firmly believe and agree that the best way to inspire others is to lead by example, which evidently starts by leading myself first. Therefore, by investing in myself through constant introspection, taking actionable steps and taking accountability, I can become an effective leader who empowers others.
