Modern Business Magazine July 2016 | Page 59

MODERN LEADERSHIP up; where curiosity, innovation, ideation and creation is a must; where execution of ideas and change a necessity; where staying in the status quo is a one way ticket to disaster. However, with the business of busyness, we can become so hamstrung with what everyone else is doing that it puts us in to comparison mode 24/7. It kicks in self-questioning – rarely for the better – and dampens our spirits, freezing us dead in our tracks. The end result? No goals achieved, no journey’s summit reached. The question is this – how do you keep your fire burning brightly when the business landscape and world around you is changing so quickly? Embrace Self-Leadership – Keep In the Zone The achiever is focused on their vision, their goals, and their capability and understands that the biggest risk to their success is themselves. There is no doubt that most of us have a motivation to win; but to keep going, to keep pushing through? Well, that comes down to your own self-belief, your mindset, your why and your drive to achieve. Those things together are self-leadership. They create the motivation that goes above and well beyond simply doing what needs to be done to win. Staying in the zone takes determination, resilience, a hunger and a belief that what you are doing, whether in the corporate arena or your own enterprise, means something. The strength of staying in the zone drives your conviction and belief. It’s about doing the work, whatever is required, to consistently follow your passions and beliefs. It’s about taking the right action and making the right decision to move towards your goals. of ‘Blame-itis”– the need to blame others, to work through an endless excuses list. At it worst ‘Blame-itis’ evolves and becomes the affliction of finding reasons as to why others achieved and you didn’t. You know the ones – “Well, they’ve got the time, the contacts, the thousands of followers, the money, the support crew, the experience, the resources. Or even – they don’t have (insert whatever you have that you feel is getting in the way). The list goes on. The top line is this: Blame-itis is not accepting responsibility for any of your actions, not being accountable for your own behaviours, making excuses and not accepting that maybe, just maybe, you did play a critical part in things not quite going to plan. The results of Blame-itis are evident – ineffectiveness, status quo, and inaction. Stop The Blame Game It’s incredible how many people these days suffer from an affliction Ownership, accountability and self-awareness are a critical part of achieving your goals. Granted July 2016 ModernBusiness 59