That’s a big question. After all, we’d have to arrive at a common understanding of leadership to even begin to articulate the meaning of successful leadership.
I began noodling on this after reading an interesting discussion at Fast Company: Bill George, professor at Harvard Business School, and Wendy Kopp, president of Teach for America explore leadership and teaching.
I’m particularly taken with George’s comment that “the key to being able to develop yourself as a leader is to narrow that gap between your idealized self and your real self by developing a deep self-awareness that only comes from straight feedback and honest exploration of yourself, followed by a concerted effort to make changes.”
I’ve thought a lot about leadership and balance lately. What is the balance between leading externally and leading yourself internally so you can bring adequate value to what you do while feeling whole and content about who you are? The last part of George’s thought–”the concerted effort to make changes”–is where I struggle.
For those with a predisposition to leadership, how do you identify the gap George mentions and then make an effort to narrow that gap without feeling as though you are failing to lead? In that gap, there are opportunities you will probably need to turn down, but there are worthy needs that will still demand attention.
George nearly distills this narrowing of the gap to a question of being able to accept criticism and take an honest assessment of your own deficiencies. That’s part of it, I suppose, but I’m also drawn to the notion of identifying your own assets and then learning how to manage them in a way that allows them to grow, leverages them, and sustains them for meaningful leadership over time. In other words, narrowing the gap by achieving balanced leadership that can be enhanced and rewarding (internally and externally) for the long haul.
Today I shared my thoughts on balance with a colleague, and he encouraged me to think about my own mission statement. As I go forward, he recommended that I only pursue opportunities that truly align with that mission statement. The idea is that establishing this practice will not only promote balance, but it will probably make me more valuable and stronger in those things I do pursue.
I believe establishing a mission and vision is a critical way of moving toward sustainable action. Of course, it’s much easier to believe this for others, like the organizations I work with, then do it for myself. Yet George raises a good point, and it makes me wonder: is leadership stalled if you do not honestly assess personal meaning (self-perception), define desired personal values (external perceptions/impact), and then align those two (balance)?
Out of curiosity, I Googled “personal mission statements.” I found a Mission Statement Builder at FranklinCovey that offers three ways to think about your mission statement and begin creating it. It’s a little hoaky with the inspirational music on the site, but anyway… I tried the timed tool that gives you prompts, with only 30 seconds to provide a response. Unfortunately, I could hardly think of responses to some of the questions. There’s obviously some thinking to do here…
If anyone reading this cares to share, it would be fun to see what you think, read your mission statement, or learn what it might include if you spent some time thinking about it. Mission-driven comments encouraged!
banana backtalk