We all fight our battles. Seek victories. Not in a martial sense but that of our professional endeavours. At whichever level we are, whatever our goals, we will have a degree of success that mirrors our competencies. Each point of our life we lead ourselves first, then others and then organisations. At each level we need to achieve self-mastery so that we achieve our potential.
LEADING OURSELVES
When we lead ourselves, it is always to achieve something. Thus what we are striving for becomes the vital target and this is the Goal. Whether it is a part of a larger goal or a milestone within a goal it is important that we have clarity of thought in our mind about the goal. Written ones are good and written ones with specifics and timelines even better. This then is the first and foremost competence that a professional must develop. We think we are doing this all the time but usually what we chase is simplistic and transactional in a day to day sense. This means activity based and not goal based.
Other base competencies, which ultimately are the building blocks, include managing your time, learning to be a self-starter, knowing how to motivate yourself, be proactive and solution centric, learn the art of communicating well , develop a better degree of interpersonal communication and being a team member. Finally knowing how to work in an organised manner and keeping focus on your priorities.
Simplistic as they may sound, these are the principal what-to-do knowledge but need a matching skill set of how-to-do is vitally important. These are the core leadership IQ’s we need.
LEADING OTHERS
Once the capability to function at the optimum is built within, we need a set of competencies that are add-on which permit you to come to a leadership role in managing others.
Motivating others, understanding nature of teams and teamwork, team building and enhancement, connecting to higher organisational goals, coordination, collaboration, a better level of communications, problem solving, decision making all come to the fore and you need to excel in this set of Leadership IQs to be a successful leader.
Apart from these there are other skill sets like negotiation, assertiveness, creating ownership, managing change, innovation, managing conflict, emotional intelligence, more delegation skills and such others that need to be enhanced as we cross into positions of higher responsibility.
The main problem of being good is that it stops you from getting better!
There are several ways you can improve. The first of course is to join in a training program that covers these competencies. However a caution here. Most training only gives you the WHAT of the matter. Unless they cover the skill sets, the HOW, they are useless. More importantly we also need a program that covers implementation and deploying of these new skills so that they are internalised.
The other way is that you select a mentor and coach who can focus on your specifics, help you understand your gaps and provide skills and guidance so that you practice these new smart ways and internalise them. This method is good because change involves behaviour patterns also where you will need help and guidance on how to overcome your comfort zones.
Whatever you do start your journey of enhancement and chart a course for your career. Not by chance but by choice.