How to keep evolving as a leader
After developing leaders for over 20 years, one thing I know for sure is that your learning never ends.
As a leader, your responsibilities are always changing and evolving. This requires you to be extremely agile (see the video below on how to be an agile leader) and to be developing yourself continuously to keep up with the ever-evolving workplace environment.
One way you can continue to develop yourself is to take the initiative and ask for feedback. We all have strengths and weaknesses and therefore should always be open to getting feedback from others on these areas.
To start the feedback and development process, I would suggest that you ask your boss this question: “What one thing do you suggest that I work on developing to be more effective.”
The other thing I suggest you do is to get some objective data from an online assessment tool. There are dozens of such tools which are extremely helpful.
If you are looking for a recommendation, my favorite tool for leaders is the Everything DiSC Management Profile. Every one of my clients completes this assessment when we start working together and it is always a highlight of the process.
This tool is so insightful.
It provides you with:
- Insights on your strengths, weaknesses and how to improve yourself
- Strategies on how to effectively direct, delegate, motivate and develop the members of your team… and to do so in a way that aligns with their different personalities
- Important strategies to improve your working relationship with your manager
It really is one of the most comprehensive tools of its type.
If you are interested in assessing your management style using the DiSC, please respond to this email for more information. I’d be happy to review the tool with you and help you to create a customized action plan so that your development is really focused on the right things.
In the meantime, ask yourself this question: “What do you need to do to be more effective right now?” Then take action to develop in this area. This will ensure that one year from now you have evolved and grown as a leader.
Since the learning never ends, this is a great question to ask yourself as every year wraps up!
Also, as mentioned above, here is a quick video on how to be an agile leader. It’s a really good one from the archives!
