The theme of SOBCon this year, The New Leaderrship and Loyalty Businesss, has me thinking, why do we work so hard to do what we do? … and how much of our success and leadership is in how we see ourselves?
It can’t be solely economic. We could find easier ways to put in a good day’s work for a good day’s pay.
It’s not just political. We can raise our station in life and our job roles by trying less visible, more traditional ways.
It’s a reaching out to leadership. Leaders are givers. Leaders give their learning, their loyalty, their love to build something lasting and solid with others that no one person can build alone.
Why do we choose the road less traveled, the rockier road that’s bound to be just that much harder if only because it’s not paved? In the end does that make us leaders or victims of the route we’ve chosen to take? At it’s core, it’s the “what” or even the “how” of what we do that makes a leader, but the “why.”
Leadership … It’s All In Your Head
Still, the calling to build something lasting and solid is simply a calling without the leadership thinking to fuel the “what” and “how” of making that vision a reality. To attract those other someones who help build that solid something a leader has to have the right “why” working. the right “why” is leadership thinking. Leadership is really all in our heads.
Did you ever notice that what people value most is what they give away?
Leaders understand that giving to others won’t get us what we not given to ourselves.
I have a friend who is a promiscuous truster. He extends his trust almost immediately to everyone he meets. He NEEDS to trust other people in order to get their trust back. His need to feel trusted gets filled that way. He’s often the victim of untrustworthy types find him attractive and find it easy to take advantage. He often burned, sometimes badly. My friend’s problem is that he doesn’t trust himself first.
The “why” he’s doing it is because he NEEDS to be trusted that is what undercuts his leadership.
Suppose that he decided (killed off all other options) to find himself trustworthy first?
That would simply be a change in thinking — all in his head.
He would move from possible victim to leadership.
If he found himself trustworthy, he wouldn’t NEED to trust other people almost immediately but he still could.
Now he would be doing it from a position of strength. Now he could trust almost everyone until he got to the untrustworthy takers. Now, because he didn’t NEED their trust (which he wasn’t getting anyway) he could smile and leave them alone.
Leaders own what they give away.
Doing that is all inside our heads. How is the leadership inside your head going?
Be irresistible.
–ME “Liz” Strauss
Work with Liz on your business!!
See also:
Top 10 Ways to Start Living Your Life
