How are you growing your capacity as a leader?

Becoming complacent is one of the biggest threats to effective leadership – it is essential that we realise that personal and professional growth are inherently linked and that we do not achieve a role or title and then everything stops! Growth is an on-going process, and in a world that is changing so fast it becomes even more important that we engage fully with this process.

What’s driving us?

As we grow up we internalise so many lessons from our parents, our education, our cultural background, which go on to inform how we operate in the world as adults. We develop strategies to deal with other people and perspectives for looking at challenges, and when these strategies and perspectives deliver what we want we continue to use them, thus reinforcing them as our preferred ways of operating. However there comes a point in everyone’s development and leadership journey when those old patterns no longer deliver what we hope for, when we face a challenge for which the beliefs and assumptions underlying those patterns have not prepared us.

What got you here, won’t get you there

For example we may have progressed this far by being technically excellent, always remaining in control and “winning” at promotion time, yet there comes a stage when if we want to grow a team or an organisation we need to be able to collaborate with others, develop the talents of team members and allow creativity and innovation to flourish.

As the old adage goes “what got us here, won’t get us there” so how can we respect those original behaviours and the fact that they were formed for good reasons, and at the same time open ourselves up to new possibilities and opportunities for change?

Removing the armour

Letting go of the need to have all the answers and stay in control requires us to be vulnerable, it leaves us feeling exposed – in Brene Brown’s Dare to Lead she describes this as taking off the armour, and this is what we must do if we are to become authentic and effective leaders. It is the only way we can truly connect with others with empathy and compassion, so that we can empower and inspire them to step with us into an unknown future.

Owning our Tree of Life

One way to do this is to explore our own stories so that we can see how we have arrived where we are right now. Accepting that these stories have formed the roots of our personal tree of life frees us to non-judgementally ask new questions, and we can start to unpack how those stories have both helped and hindered us. This enables us to prune the branches of that tree, allowing space for new growth, which in turn enables us to see new possibilities and try new behaviours. Questions such as:

What do you gain by seeing yourself in this way?

How else might you see yourself?

What do you risk by seeing yourself in this way?

What are the other possibilities?

To lead authentically we must own our stories and also consider how we want to frame those stories moving forward so that we lead with humility, integrity and compassion.

If you would like support stepping up into your next role or how to increase your leadership capacity please book in a discovery call with me for a confidential no-obligation chat today here or email to [email protected]

Sue runs sue rosen executive coaching and specialises in helping people unleash the power of their potential.