Today we begin an extended series on leadership providing bite size elements that deserve focused thought by all leaders.
We all play multiple roles in our lives – child, sibling, spouse, parent, friend, hockey player, hunter, truck driver, handyman etc. We were not born into all these roles, well, maybe only two.
Once a person progresses from single to a spouse, their worldview changes, priorities shift, and they adopt practices that will optimize that relationship; when someone becomes a parent – everything changes, and behaviours and priorities shift again. A person’s identity shifts to the point where they would actually call themselves, mother, father, husband or wife.
The same is necessary for becoming a leader. It requires a mind shift, a new identity, and a set of behaviours and priorities that are aligned with your vision and purpose for that role. To quote Simon Sinek, “you are no longer the doer you are the person responsible for the people who are doing the stuff you used to do”.
You have been the doer -mechanic, driver, controller for so long that it became part of your identity, as much as child, sibling, parent, or spouse. And that identity is standing in the way of becoming a great leader. So, here is what needs to happen – ditch the old “doer” title and identity, and develop a new one, that of a leader. And a leader that only you can be; a leader that is authentically you.
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