How
people develop and grow is an incredibly complex process that encapsulates
their family history, personality, culture, life experiences, and many more
factors all weaving their way throughout the flow of their life. Currently I am
teaching a master’s level class on human development and it has got me thinking
out loud how such processes can inform how we grow and progress (hopefully!) as
leaders.
Essentially,
much like how we develop our own unique identities, how we continue to grow and
evolve as leaders follows a similar cycle. I use the term “cycle” since it
infers that the process can repeat itself several times throughout our
leadership life span.
Naive
Just
like as children, we are initially unaware of our own complexity. As we begin
our leadership journey, we usually do not think about it very much. We get
placed or volunteer for a leadership role and proceed based upon our best ideas
and efforts. At this point in the cycle, ignorance is bliss and either we do
great or we struggle. I know I have made many leadership mistakes not because I
wanted to, but because I did not know any better!
Crises or Awakening
At
some point in our leadership journey, we either hit a wall or become inspired
to do even better! If you are like me, it usually went the “hit the wall”
direction! I realized that the leadership style, approaches, behaviors, were not
sufficient in leading myself and others where we needed to go which created a
crisis in my leadership that often had a negative impact on those I was
attempting to lead.
On the
other hand, some people experience early success in their leadership efforts.
This can be a powerful motivating factor that encourages the leader to increase
their knowledge, skills, etc. in how they can be even more effective as a
leader. They become “awakened” to their leadership potential and want to get
even better.
Response
Based
upon the earlier experiences of either Crises or Awakening, we then have some
sort of response. Such responses can range from:
- Denial – we feel any leadership failure as not that bad or not our fault thus we continue with our ineffective leadership practice
- Confusion – we realize something’s not right but are unsure as to how to fix it.
- Development – we make an INTENTIONAL effort to correct our earlier and/or ineffective leadership practice OR become motivated to do even better in our leadership. Either way, we begin to develop by design by building our leadership capacities through reading books, observing effective leaders, attending seminars, asking for feedback, reflecting on leadership interactions, etc.
Synthesis
The next
phase of the leadership cycle is Syntheses. This is the phase where we take
what we have learned and experienced to a certain point in our leadership life
and combine all of this into a coherent and stable leadership practice. At this
point we have a clear philosophy of leadership and know what we value. We also
begin to share what we have learned in the hope of replicating new leaders.
As I
mentioned earlier, this is a CYCLICAL process. As we change roles or take on
new and expanded responsibilities, it requires us to repeat the CYCLE of
Leadership Growth. Hopefully as we gain experience and mature as a leader, we
quickly know what we don’t know and make the needed course corrections. The trick
is to regularly ask yourself:
- Where am I in the CYCLE?
- What do I need to do next?
This
will take courage, though. Leaders often like to act more than reflect! But
keep in mind this is part of the necessary hard work of growing and flourishing
as a leader!
As always if I can help you and the
people you associate with Get Better, Be Ready and LEAD OUT LOUD, I would
invite you to email me or to visit my website below and see if any of the
training or coaching experiences I offer can provide an impact! Also, as a
bonus, if you go to my Out Loud Strategies website (www.outloudinc.com) and enter your contact information, I will
send you a FREE guide to establishing a mentoring initiative program in your
organization! Such an initiative would be critical to add value to your
organization!
Yours in Leadership (and
still walking both roads!),
Bill Faulkner
Principal Consultant –
Out Loud Strategies
Independent Coach,
Speaker, and Trainer with the John Maxwell Team TM
Email = bill@outloudinc.com
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