Just Be Human!
What does effective leadership take? How can we ensure that we are the best versions of ourselves, in order to make more effective leaders of others?
Welcome back to the Dream With Dan blog. It’s Friday (at least at the time of writing this) and I thought I would tackle the issue of how to give effective leadership to others. I know that some of you are business owners and people in positions of management. Even if you’re not though, there is still lots to learn from this.
We need to learn to be effective leaders in our lives in order to be better parents, sons/daughters, friends, even; employees!
We’re really talking about conducting ourselves in an authentic manner, and with integrity. This way, we can be better communicators and ultimately: respected for who we truly are!
The feedback loop effect also means that we understand ourselves better, and therefore tackle that thorny issue of ‘self-love’ more comprehensively.
So, if you’re in a position of leadership (whatever that looks like) or would like to be, here’s my advice: be human! When you’re given responsibility for others, you don’t suddenly turn into a robot. You’re not some infallible being who must always make the correct decision and never put a foot wrong!
I see this all too often with people who come to me for guidance in leadership rolls. They are at their wit’s end because they’ve been beating themselves up over the times when they made a bad call, or someone got upset with their decision etc…
Stop!
You’re still human.
Now you may have said this, in a fit of frustration at someone else: “I’m only human, what do you expect?!!” but you really need to actually take that in. Using it as a get out clause isn’t what I’m talking about. That’s just disempowering yourself in the moment and surrendering to chance.
Remember that embracing your humanity makes you more compassionate, not only to those around you but also towards yourself. This should, in turn stop you from beating yourself up so much.
I’m sure you’ve found yourself in that disempowered state. Beating yourself up over something that you got ‘wrong’. But this is not a space from which to lead! If you’re living in the past (which is what you’re effectively doing by dwelling on a past event) you’re not being present.
You can’t move your business forward with effective leadership, if you’re not living in the present.
As you know: I’m all about alignment. It is by identifying a goal and then creating alignment within ourselves to it, that we achieve it. Effective leadership is about alignment. You’re in an executive role after all, and effective execution of any goal/project/task requires your alignment, plus that of your team’s.
We are none of us merely one-dimensional beings. We exist on so many levels and that’s why we have to understand alignment from a wholistic perspective as well.
Baby-steps
Another thing you will have seen me speak about, more than once, is the power of baby-steps. I call them ‘Micro-shifts’ but really it boils down to understanding and being ok with your minimum deliverables.
Any step taken in the direction of your goal, however small, is still valid. By breaking things down into bite-sized chunks, we are able to better navigate the bigger tasks. You don’t look at a cow, for instance, and think “I can’t eat that in one mouthful…oh no! I’m going to starve!” do you? Well the same is true of your goals and aspirations.
Making a seven figure income may feel like a daunting task when looked at in totality, but break it down by year, then by month and so on. You’ll soon find your minimum deliverable each day, that will get you there with ease and more surety than if you attempted it in one leap.
If you want to be a more effective leader, I’d really recommend encouraging that mentality and leading by example.
I’m sure you’ll have people in your team, family or friendship group who come to you in a state of overwhelm. Help them break it down and just identify the minimum deliverable that they can achieve with what they have right now.
This has the effect of removing the emotional weight of said task and enables them to step into empowerment. They will have their eyes opened to just how resourced and supported they really are. From there: they can do anything!
If you’re always in a state of doing what you can do; you’re in a constant state of momentum. This doesn’t mean that we will always realise our goals. External forces are a factor and some dreams are pretty huge. That doesn’t mean the we shouldn’t shoot for the stars, but as long as we commit to a minimum deliverable everyday: we will always succeed.
Contribute to a global uplift with Effective Leadership.
The last point I want to make, in how to give more effective leadership, is this one of contributing to a global uplift. It sounds like pie-in-the-sky stuff, I concede, but the point is that we should all be seeing ourselves as part of the whole.
If globalisation and social media has taught us anything; it’s just how connected we are. Your network and influence is much wider than you probably think it is. That’s why we need to be mindful of the energy we bring to any given interaction.
We all experience life as filtered through our belief systems. Thanks to how our brains work, they filter out the unnecessary information that (apparently) doesn’t serve us in our endeavours. It is our beliefs that ultimately govern what those filters look like.
Don’t believe in the more esoteric, ‘woo-woo’ practices? Then they won’t work for you.
We all have personal agreements with the universe, but there are universally held agreements that also shape experiences. We are living through probably the biggest one in living memory right now!
There is a huge global agreement that the pandemic is something to fear, and so: we’re all acting out of fear. Or at the very least: living in a world where fear is governing our actions.
If we all play our part in speaking from a place of integrity with ourselves, and contributing to a global uplift; we can turn the tide. And much faster than we think too!
Let’s all be beacons for positivity, hope, joy and purpose. You don’t know who you’ll influence, who they will influence and the huge impact of the new agreement you help to bring about.
In fact: you could start a new global uplift by sharing this blog wherever you think it would serve people the most! See what I did there?
I encourage you all to think of yourselves as leaders.
You absolutely can be a guiding light for someone out there, and you’ve no idea of the beautiful places that can take you as a result.
Thank you so much for reading this blog, from the bottom of my heart! If you enjoyed this, I produce regular Do It With Dan blogs, podcasts and videos. I have three books published now: Stepping Beyond Intention, The Dreamer’s Manifesto and From Time-to-Time (a really great book on time mastery). All of these are here to serve you and make you part of the journey as well.
For more guidance on how to change your internal programming, to attract greater abundance and experience greater freedom: please click on the link below for free access to my…
