It’s that time of year again. The time of year when we make resolutions personally, and goals professionally. Well let’s talk about the professional goal of Being a Great Leader. Since I’m sure so many of us are thinking about our personal fitness/health, let’s use that analogy to serve as the bridge to being a great leader.

If we think of our physical fitness, it’s likely true that we’ve come in and out of being at our best. For those of us who have remained fit it’s because it has become a life-long practice which has taken constant focus, discipline and commitment.

Well the same can be true for our organizations Leadership journey. When we put focus and discipline towards it, we see results, when we let it slip, we feel the effects.

We invite you and your organization to start off the New Year by making a commitment towards your Leadership Fitness. The personal or organizational assessment below will help you uncover your strengths, areas of opportunity and potential blind spots which is much like the first appointment you have with a personal trainer. From there, in the same way it’s done with personal training, we will help develop a clear roadmap to support you and your organization achieving your goals.

Take the Individual Leadership Fitness Assessment

Take the Organizational Leadership Fitness Assessment

Who Do You Consider to be a Great Leader?

Maybe you’re thinking of a former or current boss, another leader in your organization, a friend, a famous business person, a teacher, a coach, or even a motivational speaker you once saw. Regardless, leaders show up in all aspects of our life both personally and professionally.

However, we also know that just because you have the title (implied or otherwise) of a leader, it doesn’t guarantee they are effective.  In fact it seems the contrary. One staggering statistic, based on a 2017 Dale Carnegie study, suggests that 75% of people who leave their company aren’t leaving their company, rather they’re leaving their immediate leader. And this is a shame because with a little commitment, humility and hard work, we can all be the leader we just thought of.

So how do we become this Leader?

Well before we can get started it’s important to know where we’re at today which is why we recommend you take the assessment noted above. And, over the next 10 weeks I’m going to share with you our point of view on the Top 10 Leadership Qualities you need to be a great leader. Each week we’ll deconstruct each of these qualities. For now, here’s the list we’ve compiled based on a study our team started over 2 ½ years ago.

1. Honesty
2. Vision/Forward Thinking
3. Inspiring
4. Empathy
5. Caring
6. Listening
7. Trustworthiness
8. Humility
9. Development Mindset
10. Emotional Intelligence

Until next week, some final thoughts for you to consider.  As I’m sure you’ve seen over the past week, there are tons of self-help and resolution type articles out there. Surprisingly enough it was a meme that impacted me the most – “what is the difference between being interested in something versus being committed to something.” It essentially said, if you’re interested – good luck because you’ll come up with all the excuses in the world as to why it’s not a priority. But, if you’re committed to something you will accept no excuses and you will instead focus on whatever it takes to achieve your goals.

As I thought about commitment more I thought about what it would actually look like if I was committed to something.  What I leave you with are some of the points I came up with.

Here’s what 100% commitment looks like:

• If you are truly committed there are no excuses
• It will become your daily practice
• You can already visualize what the end looks like
• You know you need to make this happen so it’s not negotiable in your mind
• As such, your mind isn’t even thinking about “being interested”
• You show up every day with a positive attitude towards this goal – even on those days when you don’t feel particularly well
• You are accountable to someone and you give them permission not to let you off the hook – regardless of what you tell them
• You celebrate your successes
• You are vulnerable and therefore allow for not being perfect

Best Success!

John Zettler,
Director, Talent Strategy & Development, Dale Carnegie Training®
Contact me at 905.826.7300 x 230 or jzettler@dalecarnegie.ca

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