When you want to know more about any business topic, any leadership skill or how to fix a leaky faucet, you probably go to Youtube like I do.Then, when you are required to watch a 2 hour lecture brought to you by your favorite Vistage Chair or your company, you may feel a little dread. Why is that?
The most likely answer is that you didn’t choose that activity, someone else did. It may or may not be essential for you today, or ever. But, it could be useful and you just haven’t been exposed to it enough to know. So, you hang in there, show up and try to focus on the material. Yay for you! Continuous learning is really important in the life of a leader.
What you do with that information is the next step in your individual leadership journey. Here’s how I see that:
We bring our whole self into everything we do whether we intend to or not. If we are a visual or an auditory learner. our cultural perspective, our prior life experience, how we were coached – if we were coached. There are some things we each do that are innate and easy, and some things are a struggle our whole lives. And, we still do them. If we are self-aware, we just give ourselves some grace around our short comings, we plan for the hard conversations or jobs.
This is why we each have an individual leadership journey. This is why having a coach or mentor can make so much difference in leading a more successful and happier career. It is also why doing personality assessments, IQ tests, EQ tests, and 360’s all matter. They help you see how you are wired and what you should embrace or delegate to others who have super powers where you struggle.
Don’t get discouraged or beaten down if you can’t figure out your way through the difficulty. Talk it out with someone you trust. The more time you spend doing what you are good at, the more successful you will be.