If you are a business leader today, your world has probably been turned upside down. You are going flat out and still find yourself slipping backwards. Your Sunday morning coffee and newspaper have been usurped by yet another cost reduction conference call. Your usual sunny, optimistic disposition has been replaced with that of a neurotic alley cat. You are even thinking about cancelling the vacation with the kids this summer because you are not sure what will be left when you return. You are being inundated by well-meaning consultants and HR managers telling you to communicate more, involve more, care more, engage more…like you need this kind of advice right now. You are no longer waiting for an economic rebound; you just want to hit the bottom so you can plant your feet somewhere. The last thing you are thinking about is your own professional development . . . .Think Again!
Now is the perfect time to focus on you and significantly increase your effectiveness as a leader. All research tells us that experience is, by far, the very best teacher. In these challenging times, every day is chock-full of some of the richest leadership lessons you will ever encounter. Think about your organization as an advanced learning laboratory where you get to experiment with new behaviors, get immediate feedback and dramatically accelerate your development in real time. It’s all in your perspective. Do you see the business environment today as some dreadful recurrence of the Dark Ages or as a once-in-a-career opportunity to lift your leadership to a whole new level?
A good way to start this process is to reflect on a few thought-provoking questions:
• Where are you on your leadership journey? Are you satisfied with your progress? Are there some changes you would like to make in your approach to your development?
• When you are faced with demanding new problems, do you truly see these as learning opportunities?
• What talents are you not using? This might be an opportunity to stop and ask yourself if you are really using all of your leadership capability.
• What courageous actions have you been avoiding?
• What attitudes are you holding onto that no longer serve you well as a leader?
What better time to experiment, take some risks, try new practices, get rid of bad habits, and nurture some newly-discovered talents than now?
Never has great leadership been needed more, and never has it been in shorter supply. We know that we have a desperate shortage of great leaders who can guide our organizations through the dangerous shoals in today’s marketplace. Now is your time.
Gregg Thompson is President of Bluepoint Leadership Development and can be reached by email at greggthompson@bluepointleadership.com
You are completely right, Gregg. Now is not the time to bury your head in the sand and hope it all just goes away. Because then everything will go away, and you’ll be left with nothing!
The lack of great leaders (in all aspects of society) is likely what got us into this mess in the first place. Now, more than ever, no one can expect to be a follower and be successful at the same time. We all have the responsibility to lead.
I’m looking forward to this month’s webinar and can’t wait to learn from it.
Comment by Amanda Cullen — April 7, 2009 @ 7:56 am