Vision, insight, clarity of purpose, and the ability to motivate others are some essential leadership traits. Read this post to find out one more.
This blog post contains my personal LinkedIn daily posts for December 12 through December 31, 2022.
How Did I Get Here?
Leaders get trouble for several reasons:
1). They’re overwhelmed. What was manageable with an existing skill set became unmanageable.
2). The leader is a criminal. They’re convinced that the rules don’t apply to them.
3). The leader listened to really bad advice from careless or dishonest advisors.
4). They’re arrogant and over-confident.
When we choose wisely, we are positioned to live abundantly!
proverbsforprofessionals.net
Today’s Observation: Regardless of my motivation or rationale, I’m accountable for the outcomes in my life.
The Precept: From Proverbs 29.12 we learn that a leader who believes lies is soon surrounded by liars!
A Question: What helps you to avoid self-deception?
One Ending, One Beginning
Yesterday was eventful for our extended family.
For one, an ending. There was a funeral to celebrate a long, well-lived life as a spouse, mother, and grandmother for someone in my wife’s family.
For another, a beginning. Our granddaughter received a highly-competitive scholarship and admission into the honors program at her first-choice college.
Learning, by itself, is simply the accumulation of factual knowledge. However, learning accompanied by growth implies practical application of life insights as guided by that new knowledge. Hence, knowing wisdom. proverbsforprofessionals.net
An Observation: We like to think of life as linear, with one start and one stop. Nice and clean in the middle. But, it’s cyclical with multiple starts, stops, and unexpected turns we don’t control.
The Precept: In Psalm 90.12 Moses prays to make the days of his life count by focusing his personal growth on the eternal teachings of wisdom.
A Question: What disciplines enable you to focus on what’s most critical right now?
Three Strategies for Avoiding Career Disasters
1). Seek wise counsel. Get the foresight that’s needed to see around the corner.
2). Get over yourself. Be sensitive to where the confidence-arrogance line is in your life.
3). Guard your character. Why? Because erosion of personal integrity is a slow process. It’s hard to see.
The amount of learning I draw from a challenging career situation depends on how willing I am to respond as a learner instead of as a victim. proverbsforprofessionals.net
Today’s Observation: Slow down. Give yourself time to mature. Take the long view of career progress. When leaders are in a hurry they get careless.
The Precept: Proverbs 4.23 warns us to guard our character above all else that we do.
A Question: What insights can you add to this list?
I Really Don’t Control That?!
One aspect of discernment is recognizing what we do and do not control.
We misspend lots of emotional energy on things that are outside our control.
There’s a big difference between the destructive obsession of a perfectionist who wants to control everything and everyday, careful preparation! proverbsforprofessionals.net
An Observation: It’s best to focus on what you can influence or really do control. Admit what’s out of your control.
A Question: What moves you from hand-wringing to constructive-action mode?
Can I Overdo Self-worth?
A life lived in balance values self without falling off into self-consumption and arrogance.
A Question: What keeps this aspect of your life balanced?
The gold and silver of self-awareness and self-worth, when paired with knowledge of our divine life purpose, becomes a source of incredible wealth! proverbsforprofessionals.net
Some Essential Leadership Traits
The leadership literature provides a long list of traits exhibited by leaders.
For example: vision, insight, clarity of purpose, and the ability to motivate others.
Leadership credibility means being truthful. It also means being true to commitments a leader makes to others and to him/herself. Those two, telling the truth and living the truth, are essential to impactful leadership. proverbsforprofessionals.net
An Observation: Sometimes, leadership is simply a one-on-one activity, such as parent-to-child or teacher-to-student.
The Precept: According to Proverbs 20.28 leadership essentials include mercy – being kind and fair, and truth – knowing and doing the right thing.
A Question: What leader has had an impact on you? Tell us how they influenced you.
What Is Leadership Impact?
Impactful leaders are influential.
The critical issue is the outcomes they produce.
In the race toward who you want to become as a leader, don’t forget to value who you are right now! proverbsforprofessionals.net
Today’s Observation: Leaders are impactful for how they make people feel. For transforming lives. For leaving an organization in a better place.
The Precept: Proverbs 29.2 points out that leaders who have integrity are a source of joy, whereas dishonest leaders are a source of deep concern.
A Question: What’s an example of impactful leadership you’ve observed?
4 Aspects of Content Sharing
We can
1). “Be Relevant”
2). “Be Engaging”
as we share from the overflow of a growing life.
We can
3). “Be Responsive”
4). “Be Consistent” by delivering content in a disciplined manner.
An Observation: Your voice is silent, on LinkedIn and elsewhere, if you don’t share it.
A Question: What are your best sources of content for social media?
Our Daughter is Mean!
Our 12-year old grandson got really angry at his mom, our daughter, yesterday.
She wouldn’t let him go outside to play when the wind chill was minus 32 degrees F (-35.5 C)!
Today’s Observation: What’s reasonable for a 12-year old isn’t always realistic for an adult! Likewise, expect others to take issue with your perceptions from time to time.
The Precept: Proverbs 16.25 teaches we can convince ourselves we’re right, even when the outcomes are a disaster!
A Question: Short of a disaster, how do you decide that you are making a poor decision?
True Wealth!
Being truly rich, thus true wealth, is based on deliberately choosing abundance.
Hence, choosing life.
For me, mindfulness encompasses traits such as gratitude, reverence, and humility, which together make us aware of life’s true wealth. proverbsforprofessionals.net
Today’s Observation: An abundant, fulfilled life is all about deep, personal relationships, both human and divine.
The Precept: From Proverbs 13.12 we learn that a desire accomplished is life giving. Wherefore, desire relationships. Therefore, choose life!
A Question: What criteria do you use for choosing relationships?
Where To Focus?
We tend to focus on the temporal.
Decision models like the Eisenhower Matrix reveal our focus on the immediate while ignoring the long-term and strategic.
Worse yet, we tend to focus on externals.
We deliberately choose our life perspective – our lens for viewing the world. That choice, in turn, directly influences our life outcomes! So, choose your outlook wisely! proverbsforprofessionals.net
An Observation: By focusing on the immediate and the external we ignore issues that are more critical.
The Precept: In First Samuel 16.7 we read: “…man looks at what’s external, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
A Question: What practices help you to focus on the strategic over the immediate?
