My working genius pairing is an Enthusiastic Encourager as our friends from The Table Group have determined in the 6 Types of Working Genius. People with this pairing drive joy and energy from inspiring and supporting others to grow, improve, and feel good about themselves. And this is exactly what ignites a fire inside of me. I enjoy helping people uncover the potential in themselves that they have been unable to find. This is accomplished by building people through pushing them outside of their comfort zone moving from stagnant to vibrant. As a leader, I have always believed that you must walk your talk. And this means that I am an avid life long learner. I cannot be complacent in my space in this world and must seek the potential I have. So with all this said, I frequently read and listen to podcasts.
Maxwell Leadership Podcast: Growing Leaders
As I reflect on my own personal growth as a leader, I have a hunger that pushes me. It has taken me on a journey from always trying to be the perfect leader and in charge of everything to being a leader seeking to get better and help others do the very same every single day. “When you stop growing, you start dying,” said William S. Burroughs.
” Great Leaders Are Confident in Themselves, Their Vision and Their People.”
John Maxwell discusses the essential elements of growth for a leader. The first area is Confidence. He defines confidence as the uplifting feeling you have before you truly understand the situation. Wow! As a baby leader, I had a whole lot of confidence and not a lot of true understanding. This was quite dangerous for me when making decisions for myself and my team. A reality check occurred when my supervisor suggested I reflect on a mistake I had made as I hadn’t thought through the entire impact of my decision.
Maxwell states, “Great leaders are confident in themselves, their vision and their people.” And the result is that others then have confidence in their leader. I had confidence in myself, however, I didn’t have a vision and hadn’t asked for consensus from others. As we know failing allows for great growth, and I took that opportunity to do just that. I owed it to my team to have confidence in all three so that I could then gain their confidence back in me as their leader. I hope you come back from the second area: courage.
