Be a Leader of One, First!

Steps to good leadership also are steps to good self-development. I recently read an article in Talent Management Magazine that was called Five Strategies for the 21st-Century Leader. I read through this and I instantly thought about how this can relate to you as the individual in being a leader of the most important person…yourself.

1. “Share a unified vision and purpose.” Do you have a unified vision and a purpose? What keeps you up at night and what gets you going in the morning? A cool quote I heard that went, “if you don’t have a plan before you get to work, you are unemployed.” Are you going to work each day unemployed? Take the time to invest in yourself and find your vision and purpose for your life, family, work, etc. Palmer wrote a book called the A Hidden Wholeness and the premise is living a life “undivided no more.” This concept is the first step on a road to self-actualization and learning to focus your vision and purpose of being your best self.

2. “Strategic goal alignment and prioritization.” Once you have a clear, unified vision the next point is to set strategic goals that will line the path to achieving your purpose and just as important, establishing rewards for accomplishing the goals; goals without rewards are just tasks.

3. “Learn motivators, and use them to help your team.” Do you know what motivates yourself? It is a reality that you will have your good days and bad days; it is a myth to think that people always have good days all the time. However, those that have more good than bad are the types that are clear on the “things” that motivate themselves.

4. “Provide tools for success.” Are you fully-equipped for what you do everyday? Often people leave a company is because they were not given the right tools to be successful in their job. This can be true for your life too. If you are always wishing you were in a higher post or in a career that you are not qualified for…get qualified, go back to school, get a certification, whatever it takes to get the tools.

5. “Determine realistic and measurable outcomes for a collaborative climate.” Talent Management’s article wrote, effective and memorable leaders demonstrate a keen ability to create challenging and exciting goals that are also realistic and achievable. They also know how to celebrate progress in meaningful ways. As milestones are met, everyone celebrates. Create measures that reward collaborative teamwork and team contribution to build momentum for success. It also makes working together a lot more fun.” It is a rarity to find a person that was successful completely on their own merit; they had someone that they worked with along the way. Fostering a life full of mentors, advisors and friends is one way to find a rich, well-rounded life.

You are the leader of yourself, first. With all the national turmoil, crappy economy, etc., now is the time that true leaders emerge. These 5 steps, while very basic, are foundational to a great life and career in whatever venture you are in. Make it a great week!

Guest Expert:

Bret j Nelson is the All-Star Sales Recruiter and Super Hero Coach for one of the top commercial insurance brokerages called Leavitt Group, he always is on the lookout for All-Star Salespeople.

Guest Expert

We are grateful to all of the career experts for the top advice and experience they share with our readers. Career Rocketeer couldn’t “take off” without them and their contributions.   Want to write for our blog? Want to further build your personal brand and your business? Learn more ► about applying to our career expert program!