FUTURE TALENT November - January 2019/2020 | Page 74

P
PERSONAL TRAINING
1
Be realistic
Ground your assessments of
situations and circumstances in
reality and ask people you trust
whether they see things the same
way. What is their analysis? Why might
their view differ to yours?
2
Check your history
Reflect on times where you have
had to deal with similar situations
in the past. How did you do so? What
skills and capabilities did you use?
What did you learn from them? The
better your awareness of your own
strengths, the more likely it is that you
will find ways to resolve present issues.
3
Be vulnerable
Share your concerns with your
people, they don’t expect you
to know everything. Vulnerability is ok;
copping out isn’t, nor is ploughing on
regardless. Give yourself permission
to be unsure from time to time.
4
Trust your team
Buildi ng high-p er formi ng
teams gives you additional
resources on which to draw. Strong,
diverse teams bring together different
skills and perspectives. Ask for their
input and advice.
HOW
TO
... DEAL WITH
6
Focus on making the most of
your skills and talents, the things
you’re especially good at. Relate those
skills to your successes in the past and
draw strength from that. You were
able to do it before; there is probably
no reason why you cannot be
successful now. But stay open to
offers of help too.
IMPOSTER
SYNDROME 7
That feeling of not
being good enough
can affect the smartest
of leaders. Arun Singh
and Mike Mister offer
tips for coping with a
crisis of confidence.
5
Stop comparing
How others have dealt with
situations is not a helpful
comparison. True, there may be some
overt similarity and even
things to learn, but humans
are individual beings and
how others make sense
of their world, and view
their problems, will vary.
People also have different
skills, knowledge and
experience to bring to
bear. Look instead to your
own past and what you have
learned from your missteps
and successes.
Focus on what you’re good at
Check your ‘mind talk’
What are you saying to yourself
in your head? Are things really
that bad? Replace extremes with the
moderate and realistic reflections.
Things are invariably better than
they seem.
8
See mistakes as ‘mis-takes’
See a mistake for what it is – a
signal – and do something
different as a result. Mistakes are part
of the human learning process and a
sign that a course of action has not
worked out as expected. Things are
neither inherently good or bad, just
more or less effective.
9
Stop attributing success or
failure to unseen forces
Luck, fate (or however you
phrase it) should have no place in your
thinking. Luck is simply being attuned
to circumstances and realising the
probabilities that can be exploited.
10
Show self-confidence
Talk straight, hold yourself
upright, ensure your posture
looks confident to others. Being self-
confident is an attribute that people
expect in their leaders and it’s
attractive to other people. It’s the
self-assurance that comes from being
able to say to oneself, honestly, “I know
I am able to do x, y, or z”.
11
Pretend you are good
at it anyway
Rehearse confident
behaviour, walking tall, speaking
clearly and firmly, listening intently,
controlling nervous mannerisms,
breathing deeply. By acting in a
certain manner, we assume these
characteristics.To misquote Socrates:
“If we act confidently, we become
confident.”
74 // Future Talent
This article is an edited extract from How to
Lead Smart People: Leadership for Professionals
by Arun Singh and Mike Mister and published
by Profile Books howtoleadsmartpeople.com