Taking a Fresh Look at Leadership This Year
by Mark Arnold
Famous businessman Jack Welch once said “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”
When you think about it, everybody is a leader, in some way, to somebody. Just because you don’t have the “manager” title at work doesn’t mean you’re not a leader of a family, volunteer group or church. As we welcome the New Year, this is a great time to look at leadership with fresh eyes and apply some of its principles to our lives, both home and business.
To help exemplify Welch’s words in your path to stronger leadership, consider the following:
- Become a better listener—The best leaders are also the best listeners. Express true and genuine interest in what someone else is saying to you and don’t look at every pause in their narrative as a chance for you to jump in. As the old adage goes, “You have two ears and one mouth, use them in that proportion.”
- Avoid disconnection—A good leader is rarely aloof and inaccessible. Detachment in leadership can easily lead to disenchantment amongst the very people you are charged with managing and inspiring. Alexander the Great led his armies into battle, charging with them at the head of the phalanx. Take a lesson from history and do the same for your friends, family and business associates. Talk with your people, find out what matters to them and what makes them tick.