One of the biggest debates of all leadership is whether a leader is born or made. We are here to close the debate. Leaders are born. Everyone has innate leadership qualities that are in them as humans. People are born to be loved, be in relationships, and grow. These are the seeds of being a Servant Leader that show in the way people care for each other, help each other, and thrive. These seeds result in the leaders who can transform industries, markets, countries, and kitchen tables.
These seeds grow in three ways 1) by feeling the effect of great leadership in life, 2) the motivation to be a leader in any circumstance, and 3) the willingness to learn how your leadership needs to continue to develop to meet the needs of others. For the last point of developing as a leader, CareerTruth has tools to help you identify your leadership strengths and gaps to solve to be your best leader. You can do this work in CareerTruth by creating your professional goals and plans then sharing your plans with your Board of Advisors, leader at work, or CareerTruth Coach, if you prefer.
CareerTruth recognizes 15 unique developmental areas of leadership to work on in your development plan to continue to develop as a leader. These include – Displaying Integrity, Emotional Intelligence, Collaboration, Inspiration, Persistence, Managing conflict, Coaching others to success, Building Great Leaders, Communication, Results & Growth Orientation, Agility, Strategic Thinking & Planning, Problem solving, Business Acumen, Organizational Strategy & Design. Go to your Career Plan to do this work.
In this exercise we want to think about the first two ways seeds of leadership grow – the effect of great leadership on you and the motivation to be a leader. The beginning of any great leader becoming a great leader is a great leader. This can start very early in life. Parents, for example, can be the first great leader who impacts their child. A great coach or teacher. A great first boss. It is rare that the first leaders we experience would have all the attributes of leadership CareerTruth recognizes. However, we guarantee you can find multiple attributes of your earliest leaders who impacted you in these 15 CareerTruth recognized leadership skills & competencies. Over time, you begin to understand what is great leadership and what is not. The best leaders you may have come in contact with leave an impact on you. This impact is not only what they may have helped you with, but also “the way” they chose to make that impact. They gave you a gift of their leadership. Because of this we want to recognize those who have poured into you. Whose leadership tree are you on? In the following leadership tree exercise, you will have the opportunity to account for those leaders in your life who served you well and what leadership traits they displayed in making you better. In essence you are part of these leaders’ legacy. This can be humbling when you think of all the people who have helped you and how you may appreciate the way they did it.
Then we need to think about the motivation to be the leader that serves others well. Servant Leadership has been written about for 2000 years. There are hundreds of books on Servant Leadership, but in essence Servant Leadership is about putting others first. “Flip the organizational pyramid upside down”. “The org doesn’t serve me, I serve the org.” With all the focus in recent years on employee engagement and the “employees come first”, being a servant leader is the only way forward and proven for centuries to work well when practiced well. This is the motivational theme for you to be a great leader in all walks of your life. At work, at home, and in your community, you have the ability to properly lead. Are you? If the answer is yes, then who are you intentionally leading today? Who have you led in the past that you helped to become a leader or improve? Who is on your leadership tree?
In the following exercise, after you have documented whose leadership tree you are on, you will have the opportunity to document who is on your leadership tree.
The sense of being intentional with your leadership and feeling as if you should improve as a leader will grow from this exercise. The Leadership Tree should continue to grow in strength and numbers over your career and life. Your leadership impacts so many people from your kitchen table to your work to your community you live and the markets you choose to take a leadership position. The roots and trunk of your Leadership Tree are the skills, competencies, and authenticity for which you are living your purpose. Feed your roots and trunk by continuing to develop your Mastery and allowing yourself to be your best by making great decisions in Freedom. The branches are the areas of your life that you operate as a servant leader – work, home, community. Finally, the fruits of your Leadership Tree are those you affect as a leader. This is a huge part of your Legacy.
Think back to those people you would be considered fruit of their Leadership Tree. You are the multiplier effect of their legacy. You received and now you must give. The better you do it, the bigger the legacy.
Let’s get to work on your leadership tree and be intentional about growing and strengthening your beautiful legacy.