I was raised to believe I could become whatever I bothered to learn. No single idea has served me better. A great quote can provide personal inspiration and can be used to educate others. We like to open most of our blogs with an enlightening quotation that relates to the topic. To distinguish your leadership behaviors is one area of particular interest to us.
Ever wondered how the best leaders handle distinguishing their leadership behaviors so effortlessly? The truth is, most highly successful people do stumble, worry, and doubt themselves, just like the rest of us. But they are very good at mastering the way they are perceived.
Zen teaches that the potential to achieve enlightenment is inherent in everyone but lies dormant because of ignorance. It is best awakened not by the study of scripture or the practice of good deeds, but by breaking the boundaries of mundane logical thought. The ability to distinguish your leadership behaviors certainly break through these boundaries.
I have been in the military and business world for forty years and often get asked what I believe are the most important leadership behaviors. It takes time and practice to be a top-line leader. You are not borne with leadership behaviors. And you are never done developing them.
My experience leads me to this list of xx business leadership behaviors that most successful leaders all share. They rank as the most significant to success as a leader in my perspective.
If you want to be a better leader, work on continuously distinguishing this list of leadership behaviors:
Commitment
People believe in those leaders that stand strong through adversity.
Inspire and motivate
No matter how good you are, you will only be as successful as your team. So, getting the most from each team member is critical. We call this being a multiplier leader. Multiplier leaders know the importance of bringing out the smarts and capabilities in everyone around them.
Great leaders inspire motivation and learning. They create environments where learners feel empowered, impassioned, and engaged.
Distinguishing Leadership Behavior … innovation
Learning from others is always important to me. For example, I have learned innovation from Amazon. They have one of the very best innovation cultures in an industry built on constant innovation and change.
Experiment and change
Remember, change and innovate, BEFORE you have to. Change is a big part of the reality in business. New ideas are the lifeblood of business. And the basis for creative change.
Your life will be in constant change mode, and that is a good thing if you lead change in the direction of your success goals. To do that most successfully, you should try lots of new things continually. For things you like, get very good at them with lots of practice. But keep trying new activities.
I love this quote from Jeff Bezos:
If you double the number of experiments you do per year, you’re going to double your inventiveness.
If you ask the best business leaders, they’ll tell you that experimentation is imperative for their business. It’s how innovations are born and how they stay competitive in the market. Experimentation is everywhere and is always happening.
Your career is not your life
This was probably the most difficult of my lessons, particularly early to mid-career. To be successful in this lesson, you should develop a breath to your list of activities and always put family and friends first.
To do both well, think about activities that maximize your friends and family, like coaching your children’s sports teams.
Dedicate yourself to continuous learning
I am a big believer in continuous learning. You should always seek to be flexible and keep several alternative paths in front of you. Always be on the lookout for ways to reinvent ways for self-improvement. My most favored quote on continuous learning comes from Charles Darwin:
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Grow kindness
All of these life lessons get better when you have a strong foundation in knowing how to be kind to others. I have never found a better way to stay happy. Kindness costs you nothing, and you’d be surprised how much it can do for your leadership.
Always look to find something to make you laugh
Another important factor in your happiness is enjoying a good laugh as often as you can. Making fun of yourself and your mistakes is a great place to start.
Clarity
People trust the clear and mistrust the ambiguous.
Connection
People like to be around people with whom they have relationships.
Boost team self-esteem
We have written on employee attitude and engagement on several occasions. Employee attitude is so critical that it can’t be overemphasized. It trickles down from employers. Your business can never be what it can be if you don’t focus on employee happiness.
Leaders should make employees feel good about themselves. It is something all people crave. Constantly criticizing and pointing out the flaws in an employee is a sure-fire way to decrease morale and performance.
Consistency
People love to see things done consistently. They like to know what to expect.
Distinquishing leadership behavior … character
People take notice of those who do what is right over what is easy.
Vision
People need leaders who communicate a clear and compelling vision of the future.
Continuous learning
People always put more confidence in those who continually expand their skills and talents. Especially those who share their know-how in these new talents.
Results oriented
People always respond to great results.
Patience
Many leaders are intolerant of others who might do things differently, or at a pace the leader finds unacceptable. Action-oriented leaders may tend to jump to conclusions before things are thought through.
The lack of patience can manifest itself as anger or decisions that aren’t fully thought through. The most effective leadership behaviors reflect patience.
Live your strengths
Good leaders coach what makes you effective so you can tap into those skills at any time.
Guide talent
Coach your teams and develop their future paths. People respond favorably to leaders offering help.
Compassion
People put faith in those who care the most beyond themselves.
People love working as part of great teams. They appreciate leaders who coach teamwork and develop their future paths.
Sizzle
People appreciate a more magnetic and memorable communicator.
Inspire change
Many people don’t do well with change. They do favorably respond to leaders who explain the need for the change.
Remove barriers
People are frustrated with obstacles and barriers. They appreciate leaders who continually focus on removing them.
The bottom line
Pay attention to the bottom line. The best leaders help their people succeed.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of great leadership. And put it to good use in adapting to changes in your business environment.
It’s up to you to keep improving your ability to lead. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, history may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
It’s up to you to keep improving your leadership learning and experience from all around in your environment.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to continually improving your continuous learning?
Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add to the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More leadership material from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
The change we are in the middle of isn’t minor, and it isn’t optional. As Clay Shirky describes the digital internet age, it is far from minor and not optional. Right on the mark isn’t it? Helpscout development tips are particularly relevant to the need for continuous learning.
The amount of new technical information is doubling every two years. EVERY TWO YEARS. The top 10 jobs that were in demand in 2013 didn’t exist in 2004.
We are currently preparing students for jobs that don’t yet exist, using technologies that don’t yet exist. All this to solve problems we don’t even know are problems yet. Scary, isn’t it?
For students starting a four year technical or college degree, one half of what they will learn in their first year of study will be outdated by their third year of study. We are living in exponential times, aren’t we?
I often use checklists to create attitudes where it is easier to see opportunity in every difficulty.
After college, I spent almost two years of training as a naval aviator. An important element of that training was the use of checklists in the learning and refresher process. Checklist utilization remains an important part of my business life.
It is always a good idea to have a helpful checklist for reminders of improvements for your business or your personal life.
I keep a stack of 10 or so checklists that I rotate and update occasionally. This is one of them, even though I am a retiree (at least part of the time J).
I pull out one checklist to read and contemplate for five minutes as a way to start each day. I find it puts my thinking in the right frame of mind.
Here is a checklist example of simple self-development reminders to improve the odds of personal long-term success:
Helpscout development tips … your career is not your life
This is probably the most difficult of the lessons, particularly early to mid-career. At least it was for me. To be successful in this lesson, you should develop a breath to your list of activities and always put family and friends first.
To do both well, think about activities that maximize your friends and family, like coaching your children’s sports teams.
Try one new thing at least weekly
Your life will be in constant change mode, and that is a good thing if you lead change in the direction of your success goals.
To do that most successfully, you should try lots of new things continually. For things you like, get very good at them with lots of practice. But keep trying new activities.
Helpscout development tips … practice new skills
One of my most favorite quotations about aim and goals is one from Michelangelo:
The greatest danger for most of us is not that our aim is too high and we miss it, but that it is too low and we reach it.
Michelangelo knew a thing or two about high aim and goals didn’t he? Need we say anything more?
Helpscout development tips … dedicate yourself to learning new things
I am a big believer in adaptation and change. You should always seek to be flexible and keep several alternative paths in front of you. Always be on the lookout for ways to reinvent ways for self-improvement.
Our most favored quote on change and adaptation is from Charles Darwin:
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.
Just remember to substitute success for survival, and you will have a very valuable tip.
Increase your reading
Let your curiosity take control and take you where it may turn into new information. Read for many reasons, but most of all to be entertained and learn new things.
In today’s world of infinite access to information and knowledge, the sky is the limit, isn’t it?
Helpscout development tips … grow kindness
All of these lessons on success get better when you have a strong foundation in knowing how to be kind to others. I have never found a better way to stay happy.
Kindness costs you nothing and you’d be surprised how much it can do for your happiness.
Enjoy the little things around you
Keep it simple in everything you do. And that is more difficult and significant than you probably believe. Our favorite quote on simplicity?
Making the simple complicated is commonplace; making the complicated simple, awesomely simple … that’s creativity.
That says it all, doesn’t it?
Helpscout development tips … find something to make you laugh
The second most important factor in your happiness is enjoying a good laugh as often as you can. Making fun of yourself and your own mistakes is a great place to start.
Your personal development … review daily good accomplishments
All of us can be enthusiastic and show passion for our favorite topics and our best days. The secret sauce is to be as consistent as possible and make it contagious to friends and teammates.
I’ve always found that taking 15-20 minutes at the end of every day to review the good accomplishments you have made. This always seems to tee up plans.
Practice patience and persistence daily
While we don’t want to highlight our lack of patience and persistence, all of us experience a lack of these two key personality traits in our lives and our careers occasionally.
The secret sauce is all about learning from them and moving on in our lives as quickly as possible.
Realize that careers and lives won’t fall apart from them unless we keep repeating them. Practice efforts both frequently and keep track of how you are doing.
The bottom line
As you progress in your continuous learning and development, keep in mind growth is a long-term, not a short-term endeavor. In reality, it should never end. It should be pursued consistently throughout your career, day by day.
Don’t settle for less than you know you can achieve.
And remember, keep your happiness and balance at the top of your list. Everything will pivot around them.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you.
It’s up to you to keep the focus on personal development. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to improving your growth hacking for your team?
Do you have a lesson about making your growth hacking better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More reading from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.