Leadership Challenge - Center Stage

At The Leadership Mission, we will be posting regular challenges designed to grow you as a leader. In order for it to work, you must take the challenge seriously and we highly recommend the following strategies to help ensure long term growth. It’s okay if you don’t have all of these right away, the point is to get started somewhere and you can add the missing pieces as you go.

1. Keep a regular log of your daily efforts whether they are mental, physical or emotional. You get where you‘re going faster when you know where you’ve been and how far you’ve come.

2. Find an accountability confidant. Being accountable is important, being accountable to someone you can also be completely transparent and open with is critical to success. It can be a spouse, sibling, parent, mentor, friend, or anyone you trust. It doesn’t matter as long as you have someone to keep you going.

3. Share with other leaders who will support you. You share with these folks at a much higher level and not all of the details but sharing is important. It is another level of accountability but also encouragement.

---

In our article Words of Wisdom for New Leaders: Everything We Wish We Had Learned Years Ago we discuss the importance of knowing that as a leader, you are always on center stage. This challenge is all about analyzing your words and actions as a leader and how they would look if you said/did them while on center stage.

Would you get a standing ovation? Or would your audience be demanding their money back? Take some time at the end of each day and recall what happened throughout the day this way. Really try to picture what the audience reaction might have been at the various points in the day.

Determine some of the moments you would put in a promo video for your leadership abilities. Then determine some of the moments that might make the audience groan.

This analysis doesn't have to take a lot of time, even as simple as 5-10 minutes. It matters though because those you interact with on any given day have their opinions of you influenced by your "performance."

When you start to think of your daily routines, actions, words and behaviors in this manner, it can really start to improve those opinions. Remember to feel good about the highlights and learn from the regrettable performances. It is just as important to forgive yourself for the regrettable moments as it is to not let the great ones go to your head.

We love hearing from our readers, leave us a comment below and share some experiences you have had while on center stage!