Good Leaders Are Always Looking Ahead
How to Lead so Others Will Follow Tip 7
by Jean Gatz, Motivational Keynote Speaker
Good leaders are a guiding force when it comes to successfully dealing with change. They understand that the choices they make today will impact the future of their team, their organization and their customers … tomorrow. While they realize there are times when immediate action and quick decisions are necessary, they are always committed to ACTING, rather than REACTING, to situations. Good Leaders avoid taking the easy road filled with short-term answers and focus instead on making smart decisions based on positive, long-term results.
Looking beyond day-to-day life, they have an intuitive ability to experience what’s happening in the moment, while creatively thinking of all the ways those experiences could fit into their vision for the future. In other words, Good Leaders are usually one step ahead of everyone else in terms of creating a plan for success that is imaginative, results-oriented and on-target.
In my experience as a motivational keynote speaker it’s easy to identify these leaders in conversations after my keynotes. They have the confidence and integrity to be accountable for their choices, along with the consequences and outcomes of those choices. No matter what challenge they are sharing with me, they never say: “That’s not my job”… “It’s not my fault”… “It’s out of my control.”
Instead they use phrases like: “This job will get done.”
“I will do whatever it takes to make it work.”
“I can figure out a way to make this happen.”
Good Leaders know they can lead others to success only by modeling the behaviors and attitudes that others would CHOOSE to follow, imitate and adopt. Their values, ethics and character show through in every conversation they have and every decision they make.
Because they know that leadership is both a privilege and a responsibility, they never take their leadership role lightly. And they know that leadership skills are LIFE skills that will take them wherever they want to go!
YOUR LEADERSHIP HAS AMAZING POTENTIAL. Use it with care.
Do you spend more time looking backward than looking ahead? See how you measure up by taking the quiz below. And if you missed any of the other tips, click here to catch up.
Which of these leadership traits describes you?
Good leaders:
____ Adapt to change without resorting to whining, complaining
____ Acknowledge their fears about change and deal with them
____ Understand that today’s choices impact their future
____ Avoid taking the easy road when it comes to making choices
____ Make smart decisions based on positive, long term results
____ Hold themselves accountable for their actions
____ Don’t offer excuses
____ Take personal responsibility to get the job done
____ Act, rather than react negatively to whatever comes their way
____ Demonstrate attitudes and behaviors needed to make change work
Which of these is your strongest area?
Which of these is your weakest area?
What can you do to improve?
Have a STANDOUT Week!
