Manager by Accident or Effective Leader: Which One Are You?

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Research indicates that the number one reason people leave an organization is the incompetence of their direct boss. It is very difficult to influence others if you have difficulty leading your own self. Yet, in many cases, leaders often promote people to management levels through MBA (Management by Accident).  

Every day you choose to lead or to follow. Mastery of personal leadership is a continuous journey you deliberately take to become the best possible version of yourself. Be intentional with your journey — the ability to develop as a leader depends on growing through daily habits moving toward your goals. 

Far too many people let life happen to them, moving through life on autopilot, blaming personal and professional failures on circumstance. Mastering personal leadership happens through continuous growth and development in all six areas of the Wheel of Life: Family, Home Life, Health, Wellbeing, Career, and Finances. Effective personal leaders decide what life they want and make it happen through planning and action.

Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner wrote in The Leadership Challenge: “Leadership is an art — a performing art — and the instrument is the self. The mastery of the art of leadership comes with the mastery of the self. Ultimately, leadership development is a process of self-development. The quest for leadership is first an inner quest to discover who you are. Through self-development comes the confidence needed to lead. Self-confidence is really awareness of and faith in your own powers. These powers become clear and strong only as you work to identify and develop them.” 

All significant change begins with being truthful about your abilities and shortcomings. Peter Block writes in Stewardship, “If there is no transformation inside each of us, all the structural change in the world will have no impact on your institution.” 

Or, as Mahatma Gandhi famously said, “You must be the change you want to see in the world.”   

The bottom line is this: If you want to lead a successful, goal-achieving business, you must first be able to reach your own personal goals. To expand business and increase revenue, you must grow as a leader. Growth is often painful.

It is easy to make the excuse that we do not have time for personal growth and development, but a stagnant leader will destroy the business. It is not easy to reflect on where we are compared to where we want to be, but you must. Great leadership is a learned behavior; model it to your employees.

Take time to look at yourself regularly, applying effort to personal development — perhaps through a formal program or one-on-one with a coach like me — you will see tremendous results in your personal life and in your business. For a sample habit builder worksheet, check out this free download at Achievable.com or reach out to Michael@achievable.com to discuss how I can help you become the effective leader you want to be.

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