11 Powerful Lessons to Help You be an Outstanding Leader

1. Be curious

Knowledge speaks, wisdom listens.

Invite in people you agree with and disagree with.

Invite in different views and thoughts and have a conversation by asking questions and being open to the answers, without judgment.

2. Ask these questions

1. What’s on your mind?

2. And what else?

Ask that second question until there is no more “what else”.

To take it further, when someone shares with you, offer:

- Can you tell me more

- What do you mean by that

- When you said this, did you mean…

3. Find life balance

If you aren’t enjoying your job, you will burn out.

Instead of finding work-life balance, find life balance.

Pursue a career in an area that excites you. An area that motivates you.

4. Find your purpose

Most of us stumble towards our purpose and find it by accident.

Our purpose is inside of us, we just need to experiment until we find it.

Observe your life. Get people to observe your life by telling them your stories and use them to find your purpose.

5. Understand your dreams

Many people have a dream.

Sadly, they think they have a dream.

Some will spend years pursuing it, only to realize it was not their dream.

Experiment now to ensure you don’t waste years chasing a dream you don’t want.

6. Choose your identity

Do you want to run, or to be a runner?

If you want to run, put on your running shoes and run.

If you want to be a runner, understand the fundamentals, have a training program and stick to it.

Being requires more effort and planning than doing.

7. You can choose 2–1/2 identities

You cannot be great at everything.

You can be good at many things, but not great.

Each additional identity you want to take on will take away from others.

At most, you can likely be successful at 2–1/2 identities. Choose wisely what matters.

8. Be a host

As a leader, host others.

When in a meeting, ensure others are heard and feel valued.

When brainstorming, be the last to speak. The last to weigh in on the ideas being presented.

Take a servant leadership role. Engage with the thoughts of others and amplify them.

9. Be an energizer

Tell your team a compelling story that they want to join you on. Motivate them.

Demonstrate energy to your team through your own inner drive.

To ensure you have that energy, take care of yourself:

- Diet

- Sleep

- Exercise

- Mediation

10. Be a disruptor

Make mistakes.

Learn from the mistakes.

Prototype, test, reiterate and launch.

Every single day, ask yourself what are two or three things I can experiment on today?

Have an advisory board that pushes you, questions you, and challenges you to be better.

11. Be a catalyst

Balance coaching and mentoring.

In coaching you want your team to find their answers and you can help through questions.

In mentoring, you want to provide them with advice and recommendations to help them move forward.

Find the right balance between the two.

This thread was based on my conversation with Colin Hunter on the Pursuit of Learning Podcast, where we discussed his book,

Be More Wrong: How Failure Makes You an Outstanding Leader

https://amazon.ca/Be-More-Wrong-Failure-Outstanding/dp/177458039X

Originally published at https://clint-robert-murphy.com on February 11, 2022.