Emerging Leaders: Surviving your traps

Three months into the job I found myself dreading to go into work, I found myself feeling empty and lacklustre.? Where was my Mojo and how is that that only three months earlier having landed my ‘next step’ job,? I was on cloud 9, ?it felt like the sky was the limit, has more Mojo than I could ever have, felt so jovial, full of energy and ready to take on the world?

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I feel into the traps where initial thoughts turned into a full blown frenzied attack like a terrible fever that struck me, dwelling in a state where I felt I was less educated, feeling out of sorts by leading a team of predominantly white female, being acutely conscious I was the youngest in the team and questioning myself on how I was going to manage and lead a talented group of therapists and practitioners??

I suppose the question that I had was what I had to give and operating from such a state was debilitating and had nothing to do with the job in hand and retrospectively I can see how I was starting with the ‘What’ and ‘How’, instead of as Simon Sinek stipulates in the Golden Circle to start with the ‘Why’.?

“Leadership is influence”. —John C. Maxwell        

This was all my doing let’s be honest we get caught up in our own thinking and create these traps that lead us into further confusion, but it is a journey that we go through, gain and develop from and impart this wisdom to others.?

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Rather than retreating here are some lessons from experience that will help you step forth in your new leadership role:

·?????? Embrace lifelong learning and that you are no longer going to be the smartest in the room.? I often felt the smartest based on previous experience in roles and in education and this was a great lesson to learn and showed me what humility looks like and what a key quality this is in leadership and to model it too.? You may have heard the saying that “if you are the smartest in the room get out of there and find another room”.? Go somewhere where you can learn and challenge your thinking.

• Leadership is about developing others around you and one of the ways is through the ‘Why’ and inspiring others often means surrounding yourself with experts who complement your skills.
• Leading is strengths-based and about bringing people together and facilitating collaboration and harness their collective expertise.
• If your team has specialised knowledge that you might not possess as was in my case working, be clear that leadership isn’t about knowing everything and in my case was about guiding, supporting, and aligning their efforts toward a shared vision.
• Regarding being a young black female leader in a predominantly older white female environment as was my case, it’s paramount as diversity enriches perspectives and fosters innovation which is exactly what they had brought me in for, to create new ways and innovate some of the work.
• Diversity presents helps to promote understanding and create an inclusive culture.
• Your diverse background brings fresh insights. Don’t retreat like I did, instead your unique voice. That’s what courageous leadership is about ??
• Bring on the #MayMagic as I have been talking about lately.? Working collaboratively is where magic happens! By being present, supportive, and encouraging, you’ve created an environment where your team shine.? When your team shines, you shine.

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As one of my students recently scribed in a journal she gave me, “Thank you for inspiring me x” and then went on to talk about how I made everyone feel valued, heard, supported and that their differences were gold.

“Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others”. —Jack Welch        

Are you ready for your success journey?