Everything rises and falls on leadership, and the hardest person to lead is always me.
As we travel through life, we are faced with unpredictable and changing circumstances, whether in business, personally, physically, emotionally or spiritually. We live in a world of uncertainty where the only constant variable is change. The need to be vigilant and agile has never been greater, because our environment is changing at the speed of light, primarily through IT, AI, and communication channels, many of which are not necessarily neutral.
Every life has seasons which require adaptation, and sometimes radical transformation.
What do you do when you reach a dead end? Or when you realise the dream you are chasing is vapour? Or when there is huge upheaval in your life? Are you ready to shift when a ‘bot’ threatens your livelihood?
Re-inventing ourselves is another description for transformation or adaptation. It prepares us for unplanned events and opportunities. It is as necessary in business, as it is in every area of life. And it does not have to be the result of trauma or in the face of potential disaster. After all, why wait to be forced into action before doing the necessary? It should be an intentional, on-going, life-long evolution, motivated by internal growth. It means regular and honest assessment of the situation, while keeping focus on the vision. I have been a serial entrepreneur, as you can read in my bio elsewhere on this site and have been forced into several re-incarnations in my attempts at turning good ideas into profit-making enterprises. One of the keys to this re-invention is personal/internal growth which is our engine room. Therin lies the assurance that tomorrow will be better than today. It must be intentional; it should be strategic; it must allow for painful failures; and it will include the Law of Trade-offs (Law #11 in 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth)
My own efforts at re-inventing myself were not as successful as they could or should have been.
Here is why.
After the sale of my business when I was still a young man, had a pocketful of money, and still thought I knew everything, my efforts to create new enterprises were limited by a lack of imagination, and perhaps courage. I chose endeavours which required little or no personal growth, and which did not take me very far out of my comfort zones. They did not require learning new skills apart from some basics, nor were they intentional steps in a ladder to reaching my potential. I did not give myself the freedom to re-imagine a future based on a vision of how I wanted my life to look. I used the same formula which had been successful once years before, over and over. I changed products, I changed markets, but I did not change my modus operandi. I continued believing that a good, or even a charismatic presentation was enough to open doors, and that people would part to make room for me. I did not adapt to the times or the changing environments. The result was sluggish performance and for many years I simply drifted, hoping that the next project would re-launch my career.
The mistakes?
- What worked before is not guaranteed to work again.
- Talent is not enough.
- I did not use the opportunity to search out my passion (most likely associated with natural gifts and talents).
Here are three powerful tools to keep you agile and mobile and help in self-re-incarnation.
- Remain authentic
- Remain teachable
- Keep a servant attitude
Being authentic is the opposite of being pretentious. It means that our outer self, what we present to the world, is a true reflection of our inner self. It means that what we do in public is the same as what we do when nobody is watching. It also means that we do what you say we will do. It is a well-known fact in leadership circles that the most difficult person to lead is ourselves. It is difficult to remain unaffected by our circumstances and all the external forces vying for our attention. The key here is character. When the going is good or great, remain humble. When the going is tough, don’t cut corners. There are always temptations, whether to be a hero, a victim, or a villain. True character means staying true to your values and remaining trustworthy. There is a saying that someone’s true character is revealed when there is money on the table. It has been my experience that this is often true. Character is the only thing you can take with you wherever you go. Protect it.
Being teachable requires me to have enough humility to recognise that I do not have all the answers. It requires the desire to learn. It means listening with an open mind to opinions which are sometimes at odds with my own thinking. Every person we meet has the potential to teach us something. It also means remaining curious, which is one of the keys to learning. Growing leaders focus on asking good questions of themselves and others. Change starts first in our imagination and then works its way out. Leadership and learning are indispensable of each other. I have always been curious, sometimes to my detriment, but I do not regret the life and leadership lessons I have learned and continue to learn from my experiences. After all these years I remain a committed student and find it very rewarding.
We often hear about servant leadership, but what is it exactly? The first reality is that it’s not about you. Great leaders become great because they make others great. They are not glory seekers. Their mission is to take as many people as possible with them on the journey of success. Organisational consultant S. Chris Edmonds defines servant leadership as “a person’s dedication to helping others be their best selves at home, work, and in their community.” The real nugget here is that everyone has the capacity to serve. And Helen Keller observed, “Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much.” ‘Better together’ has never made more sense.
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