Being A Positively (and Usefully) Contagious Leader Today

I've worked with business leaders and organizations for over twenty years in the areas of performance, leadership, and culture. My focus has been both on optimization and triage. If you know me, my work, or my books, you know that I stand strongly on the idea that our IEP (our Intentional Energetic Presence? and our intentions, energy, and presence) are the MOST essential components of leadership that any leader -- regardless of role, status, profession, industry, etc. -- can tend to. After all, as you may have heard me discuss, if our skills and credentials are rock solid BUT we don't know where we're going (or why), we're burnt out or exhausted, and/or we make people feel terrible around us by how we show up -- what's the point?

We're likely to do more harm than good.

The great news is that our IEP is 100% within our control and something we can cultivate regularly. And our leadership skills (which mix with our IEP like food coloring in water) are also ours for the up-leveling as we're willing to do the work. The other great news? There's no "finish line" -- this is life's work -- so relax, breathe, and start where it feels right...

Aside from the hundreds of leadership skills we can tap, and the many assessments and philosophies on what works, some "skills" are core and foundational to all others. Especially today. To create trust and safety, honest communication, healthy collaboration, cleaner results, and ultimately a positively and usefully contagious culture in today's business environment, here are nine "skills" to lean into:

1. Personal Congruency (this is about honoring my word and being in right relationship with myself, honoring my promises to self, being present to me, and in integrity in action with my values and what I SAY is most important). Our personal congruency sets up the foundation for our relationship with ourselves, our own advocacy and clarity, and our internal trust and credibility which ultimately ripples out and is felt by those around us. It's where trust starts. We must start with ourselves.

2. Presence (being here in this moment now, present to current situation and person, showing up with internal and external congruency). Our presence sets us up. Period.

3. Energetic hygiene (bringing "clean" energy to conversations and situations, managing and leading our energy, taking care of our well-being mental/emotionally/physically so we have the energy and stamina to lead). Our energy keeps us going and is communicated consistently to everyone around us (the good, the bad, the high, the low, the helpful, the not-so-much...)

4. Intentionality (about the impact we want to create on/with others, the experience we want to create for ourselves, and our outcomes). Our intentions set the tone, the direction, and where the energy gets focused.

5. Curiosity, empathy, listening, AND hearing (below the surface, in between the lines, for "the why," and for "the next"). Authentic curiosity, conscious empathy, true listening AND real hearing communicate care, create connection, insight, and trust with those we lead. (Not to mention new ideas, new solutions, and bonus taps on intuition that we'd likely not have "heard" before.)

6. Action (walking our talk, following through, giving direction, asking for help, enrolling and growing other leaders). Our actions make it happen, build trust and credibility, create change, and inspire more leadership. (A little goes a long way, especially when #1-5 are right.) 

7. Ability to give (and receive) productive feedback (holding a solid container for those we lead to learn, grow, and step into, providing actionable response-able feedback, and devoting to our own continuous growth). Our feedback grows us, grows others, and helps course correct on all of the above. Good feedback makes us -- and those we love and lead -- more effective and expansive leaders and humans.

8. Accountability and ownership for all of the above... Our accountability and ownership for tending to all of the above are yet more of the foundation of creating clarity for ourselves and trust and credibility with those we lead. 

9. Authenticity, Vulnerability, and Service... Leadership is NOT about doing it "right," it's not about having it all "figured out," and it's definitely not about "being a leader." It's about being real, having clean intentions, showing up, doing our best, doing all we can to help things go right and serve others, and making the people we lead more important than our comfort or "looking good." It's about service. AND at the same time it's about taking care of ourselves so we can continue to serve more and have plenty of ourselves left over at the end of the day for our families, ourselves, and all the other things we care so much about -- which brings us full circle back to #1...

These "skills" are dynamic, they each support and affect the other, and they continue to evolve and grow... and they're a choice. We have command of ourselves for each of them.

The great thing about creating a positively and usefully contagious culture is that it starts with each one of us individually. A contagious culture is simply a bunch of contagious you's showing up together. So, me, you, we, us... Let's go.

ACTION: An invitation to pick one that is your strongest and lean into it extra this week. Pick the one that is the most challenging or needs the most TLC, set an intention around it, hop to, and, if needed, ask someone for help. As always, if I can be of service, please reach out!

RESOURCES TO SUPPORT:

More on these ideas and real-time ways to engage in my books CONTAGIOUS YOU: Unlock Your Power to Influence, Lead, and Create the Impact You Want (McGraw-Hill, 2019) and CONTAGIOUS CULTURE: Show Up, Set the Tone, and Intentionally Create an Organization That Thrives (McGraw-Hill, 2015).

Are you a subscriber on my bi-weekly newsletter, "Contagious Leadership," or on my blog "Leadership Between the Lines"? Join myself and thousands of other intentional business leaders as we dig into what it take to be positively and usefully contagious and to LEAD in today's world each week. 

Want something more personal and custom? I work with people privately 1:1, we have online programs to support you and your team, and I am available for teaching or speaking in your organization as well. Contact me [email protected] or DM. Thanks!

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