By Dr. Nicole LaBeach, Ph.D., PCC
Success requires vision, commitment, consistency, focus, sacrifice, and effort. As leaders, when things go our way we feel accomplished. However, when they turn in another direction we can beat ourselves up with how we missed the mark and how it affects those who follow us. In each case, the wrong perspective can be quite costly.
Perspective is the gift that affords the power to choose how we encounter and respond as leaders. How we see a situation is one of the best indicators of our recovery time and what happens next. If we see our falls as failures, defining moments, leadership catastrophes, or evidence of unworthiness, future attempts can feel like moving boulders with our bare hands.
Instead, stillness, insight, listening, and sharing with other leaders and trusted confidants, are tested and approved must-have items for a basic dust yourself off tool kit. As we dream big, achieve more, and soar to higher heights, the ultimate tool kit requires a bit more for a stronger arsenal.
Here are 4 power moves that will help leverage your efforts:
Abandon Your Personal Propensity for Amnesia. One of the greatest forms of resistance to overcoming a disappointment is choosing to dwell in what went wrong instead of the strategic understanding of what is and has gone right. When you forget past success, you remove your own armor and that of those you lead. Forgetting moments of courage, victory, and triumph seeks to ensure you the make a valuable connection: You’re not a loser, you’re a winner who lost one round.
Only Play What Encourages the Journey. Don’t allow yourself to engage mental tapes that discourage your capacity or the possibilities for victory ahead. There’s no usefulness in entertaining mental tapes that scream “You can’t,” “This can’t,” “We can’t,” “You won’t,” “It can’t happen,” “I’m not,” “We’re not,” If it doesn’t sound more like “You can,” “You will,” “We can,” “It’s Time,” “Go For It,” and “Go Anyway,” push the mute button until you hear the right internal message coming forth.
Release Baggage that Slows You Down. As a leader, identifying things that make you lethargic is very important. Defensiveness, resentment, anger, an inability to receive feedback, and fear are but a few. For example, as leader of the pack, fear will often show up as a clear adversary to your effort and that of your team (e.g., fear of change, failure, loss, and the unknown). When it does, your options are three-fold: You can choose to move with, without, or be stopped by fear. With the ultimate goal of paralysis, fear is most successfully defeated with movement. So, drop the bags, rally your team, and start moving. With fear being like kryptonite was to Superman: the further you go, the more momentum you’ll experience.
Get Out of Your Head, Give It Your Best Shot… It’s only over if you throw in the towel, but it’s a setup if you give it your all and try again. Learn from the scenario and use it to inspire those you lead. Abandon pride and take an authentic look at the chain of events, missed opportunities, power you still have within you and others. What pushed you from the finish line? Was it timing? The wrong target? Lack of preparation? What needs to be different/the same? What did you learn? What can you and your team now activate with a clear understanding? Together, let these answers yield a new strategy, new plan, and set of focused actions to reach the target this time. Doing so will reaffirm you are powerful beyond measure and show how resourceful your team can be with you at the helm.
Yes, at times leading well can be uncomfortable, but the charge is to give it your best anyway. That’s a perspective you can choose to lead and live by!
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For more inspiring tips on keeping moving and adjusting your perspective, schedule a consult with Nicole.