Leadership Significance
Some leaders struggle to get people to follow them. Companies experience frequent turnover. People do not leave companies. People leave people, especially bosses.
Many leaders what to be significant. But they are leading from their ego self.
Before you can lead others professionally,
you have to be able to lead yourself personally.
Who you are
Leadership in one word is influence. Before you can lead others, you must be able to lead yourself. Before you can influence others, you must be able to influence yourself. And, I would add that before you can lead yourself or influence yourself, you must be able to lead and influence your own soul. If you are a faith-based person, then God is the one who leads and influences your soul.
Leadership is often associated with position, performance, and pursuit of perfection. But leadership is more than these things. Leadership significance is more than self-leadership -- it is soul leadership. How leaders act, react, and interact are expressions of what is in the center being of their soul.
Significance is about who you are, not what you do. Significance in leadership is all of who you are -- your past and present, your successes and failures, your genius, and your personal and professional self. When you know who you are, you know how you serve people, and who you serve.
Leaders need to first discover their own significance. When a leader understands their own significance, they then know how they serve people and who they serve.
A leader's personal and professional significance need to be aligned. The reason is that it guides decision-making as a leader. It guides you in what and when to say yes and what and when to say no.
What you do
As a leader, what you feed your mind, feeds your soul. What you feed your soul, feeds your heart. What feeds your heart produces what you do. This shows in how you interact with staff, employees, and customers.
Leaders should recognize the significance of their staff and employees. This requires the leader to take the time to know their people. Their significance will contribute to the significance of the organization.
Leaders should encourage all of their individuals to discover their own significance. Then, they will know how they serve people and who they serve. This begins with the hiring process, onboarding, and training. When leaders, staff, and employees serve and collectively contribute from their significance, a culture of significance is created. This leads to a significance that stands out to customers and people being served.
A leader's significance becomes a leader’s service. Leadership Significance is to serve, not gain. Leadership Significance creates a daily legacy. An organization's leadership significance becomes a culture of significance.
If you would like to discover your leadership significance and how to create a culture of significance, reach out to me at eric@drericlake.com.
