We are excited to be a part of Ignite the Leader Within Summit!
From February 13 – February 26, you are invited to participate in this online training summit to learn how to become a better leader, improve team performance and boost your profits from 30+ International Leadership experts!
Once registered, mark your calendar to listen to our very own Robyn Marcotte’s interview on February 23 with her presenting her biggest Aha! moment as a leader and how she continues to improve her leadership strengths.
Don’t have time to listen to the online summit, but still interested in learning more? You can order Ignite Your Leadership: Proven Tools for Leaders to Energize Teams, Fuel Momentum, and Accelerate Results by clicking here.
“A true leader has the confidence to stand alone, the courage to make tough decisions, and the compassion to listen to the needs of others. He does not set out to be a leader, but becomes one by the equality of his actions and the integrity of his intent.” –Douglas MacArthur
As a team member or leader, you may find yourself asking the question: “How can I make the biggest impact on my client and achieve faster results?”. Answer: change people’s limited thinking, help them adjust their standards, or even change their habits, in order to support their goals. This may begin by encouraging clients to pursue thought-provoking relationships and opportunities, resulting in more thought-provoking results – Big results come from smart thinking.
Below is a simple self-assessment that will trigger thought and action. Think about each question and rate yourself 1 to 10 (1 being low; 10 is high). Next, brainstorm actions you will take to improve yourself in response to your answers. By changing your own habits and mindset, you may also begin to impact those of your clients. This will help you achieve better and faster results.
How is my life working out?
How is my daily attitude; how happy am I?
How are my relationships with my family, friends, co-workers, coaches, and mentors?
How is my health? (weight, overall wellness, self esteem, stress levels, etc.)
How effectively am I feeding my mind? (How many books have I read in the last six months? What do I wish to become? Am I studying productively?)
How do I rate my lifestyle (my satisfaction with activities such as travel, exploring, attending fun events, etc.)?
Where is my income in comparison to where I want it to be?
How often to I give back to others?
How is my goal setting? How satisfied am I with how many goals I have manifested in my life?
“Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can achieve. Thoughts are things! And powerful things at that, when mixed with definiteness of purpose, and burning desire, can be translated into riches.” ~ Napoleon Hill
We at Aha! Leadership are excited to announce we have entered into a partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in order to provide clients cutting-edge leadership development resources that are researched and designed by a top-ranked, global provider of leadership development.
In the spirit of continuous development that we inspire in our clients, we, too, model such – creating a strategic alliance with one of the world’s most respected leadership development institutions — CCL.
CCL also recognizes the value of partnering with Aha! Leadership because it helps further CCL’s mission of inspiring greater leadership in businesses and organizations.
I am excited about our relationship with CCL because it allows us to broaden the services we provide our clients, including ground-breaking cultural assessments, or offering new topic-specific workshops for leaders.
Want to hear more? I would love to share more about how our expanded capabilities will enrich and provide exceptional leadership development programs for you. I welcome your call or email.
Many leaders come about the role and title by accident. Due to good technical skills, a great work ethic, seniority, or the unexpected exit of a former leader, a new leader is promoted. Without warning, and often without support or development, the new leader goes from “one of us” to “one of them.”….and oftentimes results in poor team dynamics.
It begins with you – take control of your path. Three steps to developing yourself, becoming the leader you want to be.
Step 1: Define your leadership.
Step 2: Make friends with reality.
Step 3: Build a plan to close the gap.
Step 1: Define your leadership
This first step is the fun part. Decide who you want to be as a leader. Here are seven (7) simple questions to help you start defining your new vision:
What are your top two or three values?
In order to lead by your stated values what is required of you?
What tough decisions might you have to make in order to set a good example?
How do you handle poor performance?
What do you do to manage your anger and frustration?
How do you speak?
How do you inspire others?
After you answer these questions on paper – You are the creator of this experience. There’s no one stopping you from developing a vision of who you want to be, how you want to be perceived, how you want to feel, and how you perform your role.
Step 2: Make friends with reality
Telling the truth is the difficult part. This step is second in the process for a reason. If you start with facing reality before you define your vision you may get discouraged. Telling yourself the truth about where you are takes courage, maturity, and a certain amount of character. As you look at what you want to create, where are in in comparison? Do you tend to allow bad behavior from your employees? Do you lose your temper? Do you make promises you can’t keep? Are you a poor planner? Now that you have completed step two, you probably have a big gap between where you are and where you want to be. In short, you have a lot of work to do.
Step 3: Build a plan to close the gap
As a leader you need to be a good planner. There’s no better way to test and train your planning abilities than to start with yourself. Your plan includes shoring up your weaknesses, developing new skills and building empowering habits. Start thinking more like an entrepreneur — hire your own coach or go to a conference.
Conclusion
It’s great when your company invests in your growth and development, but why wait or rely only on that avenue? You have choices because you are a creator. You were chosen to lead because of your character, your initiative, your work ethic or other wonderful qualities. Don’t let any company determine your worth or your ability to elevate your leadership—embrace an entrepreneurial mindset and commit to your own leadership journey. No matter how much you invest in yourself, that investment is never wasted, and always gives you a return on investment.
The further along we are in our career, the easier it is to fall back on the mistaken assumption that we’ve made it and have all the skills you need to succeed. We should never stop learning – The act of learning is every bit as important as what you learn.
Mahatma Gandhi says it well…“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
Our time is finite, so focusing on these nine skills will yield the greatest benefit as will always continue to pay dividends.
Emotional intelligence (EQ). EQ is the “something” in each of us that is a bit intangible. EQ is your ability to recognize and understand emotions in yourself and others and your ability to use this awareness to manage your behavior and relationships – it is what sets star performers apart.
Time management. Learning to manage your time effectively frees you up to perform at your absolute highest level, and it does so every single day of your life.
Listening. True listening is about understanding, not rebuttal or input. Learning how to suspend judgment and focus on understanding the other person’s input is vital to our success!
Making decisions. Learning to make sound decisions and move forward. We will not always have all the facts, but to know when you have enough to base a decision and not be crippled by fear of making a decision or a wrong decision.
Asking for help. The ability to recognize when you need help, summon up the courage to ask for it, and follow through on that help is an extremely valuable skill.
Getting high-quality sleep. When you don’t get high-quality deep sleep, the toxic proteins remain in your brain cells, wreaking havoc and ultimately impairing your ability to think—something no amount of caffeine can fix. This slows your ability to process information and solve problems, kills your creativity, and increases your emotional reactivity.
Knowing when to stop talking. When you read and respond to your emotions, you’re able to choose your battles wisely and only stand your ground when the time is right.
Taking initiative. You have to take risks and push yourself out of your comfort zone, until taking initiative is second nature.
Staying positive. The real obstacle to positivity is that our brains are hard-wired to look for and focus on threats. We have to train our brain to make it a habit.
In Summary, this is by no means an exhaustive list – what else do you believe should be included? Please email me at aha@ahaleadership.com. I would love to hear from you – Robyn
Reference exerpt – Dr. Travis Bradberry/Forbes Mar 7, 2016
Podcasting is a great way to learn and be inspired through the stories that are shared. Storytelling is a powerful tool and a central component of leadership. Want to understand why Ronald Reagan, Margaret Thatcher, Bill Clinton or Barack Obama became national leaders? A big part of it lay in their ability to tell effective leadership stories.
If you have an interest in entrepreneurship, tech, leadership, business, creativity, or just learning and expanding your mind, here are 100 podcasts that can help you bring your best to all you do.
Pick out a few to start with, then get ready to listen and learn while you’re in the car, on the treadmill, or during your morning commute.
# 27 is my personal favorite!
To view the list, please click here….and get ready to be inspired! – Robyn
We at Aha! Leadership are excited to announce we have entered into a partnership with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in order to provide clients cutting-edge leadership development resources that are researched and designed by a top-ranked, global provider of leadership development.
Many leaders come about the role and title by accident. Due to good technical skills, a great work ethic, seniority, or the unexpected exit of a former leader, a new leader is promoted. Without warning, and often without support or development, the new leader goes from “one of us” to “one of them.”….and oftentimes results in poor team dynamics.