Want To Make 2018 Great? Start With You

A critical skill all good leaders must develop is humble, honest self-awareness. Not the all too common self-aggrandisement that accompany the leader's swagger; a symptom of a puffed up ego. Don’t believe me that you’ve got this going on? See how you react when someone challenges you about a piece of work you’ve done or an idea you’ve had.

Honest self-awareness is about being able to strip away the layers of self-delusion to arrive at the truth… the real version of you. The one that is good at some things and weak at others. Just like all of us. If you can stand before the mirror and accurately understand where you’re both strong and weak, then you are at the starting line for a fascinating year.

Self-awareness shines a light on your weaknesses and being humble allows you to ask for help. These qualities will enable you to work out how to get even better at your rockstar qualities and acknowledge and seek help with the not-so-awesome bits of your toolkit (because no-one is ever perfect).

My advice is to do more of what you love (because you can excel in these areas and become a stand-out performer) while working alongside people who are strong in areas you are weak. It’s often easier and more profitable to do this than try to become good at something at which you are not naturally talented. The harder the skill, or the more time it takes up of your day to perform, the more this is true.

But, here’s the problem. Your ego hates to admit to imperfection. It thinks this is a sign of weakness. That not being the best at everything means people will find you out, or not respect you. So you are going to have eal with these rogue, inaccurate and thus unhelpful stories. The smart leader knows no-one is perfect at everything. Not to admit this is an avoidable step on the road to burnout, failure, and ruin.

So how do you get better at your strengths and accommodate your weaknesses?

The answer is simple…immerse yourself. Focus like a laser on the objective of self-improvement. You train, read, listen, write, practice, experiment, fail, learn, try again, learn, play, discuss, seek mentors and, eventually, teach others…

By undertaking this and remaining focused on one skill at a time, you will prevail.

So be honest with yourself, swallow your pride, work on something you are good at, work with people better than you in other areas, and focus on one thing at a time until you are a Jedi-level master! Then, you win.

Dr D.