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?
I learned that I feel like I learned more how to be a leader by experiencing, so frequently, what a leader is not— working for those who took credit but never accountability, or who took credit and showed zero appreciation for the team that made it happen, etc. But I did take away that it’s important to be early, not just on time, as it’s important to be prepared for meetings— so that they have structure, an overall objective, that is clear, concise and helpful.
✒️ Respond to one of your peers in this thread
Gottie!
@Rubylistens22
Yes! I am also one to say encouragement and slight adjustments over criticism any day!
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
Two key points that really stood points. Effective leaders don't brag about achievements and don't always get credit for their work. These two points are often undervalued in leadership but definitely make a huge difference.
@richuyulin
This is so interesting, thank you for sharing!
So many leaders do amazing work without it ever being noticed
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@Hope
Through the recent discussion, I discovered that I possess natural leadership qualities that enable me to encourage myself and others to exceed our perceived limits. Despite my tendency to overthink situations, I have learned how to effectively delegate tasks and break down objectives into achievable steps from the time management course smaller, more a. This approach helped me overcome any obstacles that arose. By setting a good example and prioritizing communication, I will inspire my team to remain focused on the present and work collaboratively towards our shared goals. Overall, this exercise allowed me to hone my strengths and recognize my leadership potential.
@broadfemmelovelive, I really liked reading that although you have a tendency to overthink you "have learned how to effectively delegate tasks and break down objectives into achievable steps from the time management course." That is no little feat! 😊 We are here to grow!
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I learned that while I like being a leader, I also love receiving input from other people.
@jadenrjc7
I think as a leader you have to listen to others input as they may have ideas you didn't consider. So I think that's a great quality to have!
Both people I picked for this exercise had good and negative qualities when it came to leadership, which to me shows that a leader isn't and can't be perfect and needs to realize this. It's imporant to know your team so you know how to manage them and where to place them so that one persons weakness is anothers strength and by all working together as a whole we can be as close to perfect as humans get. I also learned a couple different leadership keys from working as a camp counselor - one of which was praise in public and negative in private. Embarassment isn't a motivator. Another imporant key I learned is freedom with responsibility -which means you need to trust your team to do what they're supposed to be doing until they aren't, and then you need to re-evaluate why its happening as a team.
What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
First of all, I learned that leadership requires self-leadership which is basically reflection about ourselves.
Second, I learned that I've been trying to emulate certain qualities in someone I looked up to as a child while trying not to be like someone else who was in my life at the time. I've been pretty good at both, but I have overcompensated when it comes to being better than the person I did not want to be like. This has formed part of my personality and I have to live with it, good or bad. Knowing about it and how it affects my leadership in terms of strengths and weaknesses is important in the sense of point number 1.
@MagnificentSunrise
good answer, good job! <3
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I was reminded of why I wanted to become a leader and to continue to tap into that passion for people. She was so right about the leaders I look up to always going to bat for their people when the time came for that.
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
Through this exercise I learned about what I value and uphold in others and myself. This includes personal or self awareness and external awareness of others. I read a quote recently that said "we criticize others not because they are human and have faults but rather faults different then our own." I think that is true but also people may criticize for faults they do possess and don't like either. I also read a quote that said "do not let praise get to your head and criticism to your heart." When I examine myself, I try to reflect honestly about my strengths and weaknesses where I can. Then I can be willing to learn further in both capacities. I find that being humble and the ability to listen intently where it's appropriate matters. I also seek to learn from those wiser and very capable in avenues I'm moving toward, which also adds benefit.
✒️ Respond to one of your peers in this thread
@Nvlmi
Both the quotes you mentioned makes complete sense Nvlmi but the second one is more deep. Short and holds the essence completely.
It takes courage and a willingness to grow to introspect and gain deeper insights into oneself and I would like to appreciate you for that. All the best !!
@Hope
I am not nearly close enough to the person I want to be. I am strong, but I have let that take over to a detrimental level of the other characteristics. I have not pushed myself forward for a while and it's put me more towards the person I never want to be. The important ways, I guess I am who I want to be but the strength to push through that hasn't been used. Yet.
@SnowTabby
Underlying it all, I hear how you have been introspecting with yourself. Hope you are able to find someone who is able to journey with you in this season of discovery. Wishing you nothing but the best and hoping that you will be gentler with yourself :)