~Share something you are passionate about:
Every leader fully stepping into their courageous leadership, leveraging their strengths and finding their own unique style.
~What are some ways you are helping to bring this forward in the world?
Through speaking, coaching, leadership development programs and my forthcoming book.
~Describe something our readers today can look forward to discovering in your book, The Courage of a Leader: How to Inspire, Engage and Get Extraordinary Results:
Practical guidance, exercises to complete along the way, real-world examples for leaders at all levels, stories and insights from successful executives
~What are 1-3 tips you can give our reader today to help them step forward in their life powerfully?
1. Build your own resilience.
Notice the negative or disempowering thoughts you have. How can you shift them or set them aside? Tune into your empowering thoughts and focus on those. Daily – every single day – engage in personal resilience practices. These are activities that reenergize you physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Pause and take deep breaths. Walk outside while talking with a friend. Whatever reenergizes you so you have the resilience to make the difference you want to make.
Grow your influence exponentially by thinking systemically.
For every project and every task within those projects, think systemically. What are the inputs (who is providing them, when and how)? What other inputs could there be? Could they come from different people/groups in different ways/frequency? What are the outputs (who receives them, when and how)? What other outputs could there be? After inputs and outputs, consider strategy, structure, processes, technology, people, education and rewards. What’s in place and working well? What’s missing? What’s possible? When you think systemically, you grow your influence and get extraordinary results, because you’re thinking through and leveraging each possible aspect of the system that enables what you want and supports what you want over time.
~Will you share a client success story?
I worked with a Production Supervisor several years ago who was extremely frustrated with one Operator in his group. He told me about how he had tried everything to get this guy to change: he’d told him the new expectations, asked him want he wanted, put him in charge of his area, and so on. He kept going round and round and trying new things and yet, the Operator continually reverted to his typical ways. The Production Supervisor felt he had exhausted all possible options. I asked him, “What do you think about this Operator, honestly?” The response was immediate, “He’s old, stuck in his ways, resentful that I’m younger than him and he’s playing me.” I nodded. I got it. I understood why he thought that. I looked him in the eye and said, “Here’s the thing. You’ve tried everything – everything – except changing your outlook.” There was silence for a bit. He knew what I meant. I saw him taking it in. He was going to have to do some more work.
The Production Supervisor who believed he had tried everything, went back and did some more work. He looked for new evidence, realizations, and thoughts that could shift his outlook. We had a coaching call. He said he was ready, that he was feeling a little bit differently about the Operator. I told him to do some more searching, I didn’t feel he’d made a genuine shift. He reflected more and later he told me that he apologized to the Operator for not acknowledging the full value of his experience. The Supervisor had plans to back up, redesign the changes with the Operator’s input, and have the Operator decide the implementation steps and pace. The Operator stopped him as he was sharing these plans and said while he appreciated all that, all that he really wanted was the acknowledgement and to tweak one piece of what had previously been introduced. This adjustment would make all the difference in his mind. And, it did. The process change was implemented in half of the planned execution time, which was initially what the Production Supervisor described as an “aggressive timeline.”
When I observed this Supervisor make this internal shift, I decided right then that I wanted to share the stories of leaders like him and write The Courage of a Leader book.
~What tip or piece of advice can you share with our reader today to empower them to SHINE?
Declare your leadership legacy.
A leadership legacy is an aspiration about how you want to be known or about what you want to create. A leadership legacy is something that you can be demonstrating, embodying and sharing right away. It can be an initiative, set of products, or improved processes. It can also be a leadership trait for which you want to be known and foster in your organization.
If you need to determine or fine-tune your leadership legacy, look to the times in your life when you 1) know you’re providing value and 2) are enjoying yourself and feel energized. That’s the arena in which your leadership legacy lives.
When we have a leadership legacy, we go beyond everyday human considerations and doubts, we’re more strategic and others want to follow us and help make that legacy a reality.
~Any final thought, share, or idea that you would like to share with our readers today?
Just like culture eats strategy for breakfast, “Belief eats behavior for breakfast.” It’s not about executing all the leadership behaviors perfectly. Instead, it’s much more about ensuring you have a vision, a purpose, empowering beliefs and good intentions for your work and interactions.
Meet Amy Riley: Speaker, Author, Leadership Development Consultant
Ready to be inspired by another amazing person? Amy L. Riley is an internationally renowned speaker, author and consultant. She has over 2 decades of experience developing leaders at all levels. Her organization, The Courage of a Leader, empowers leaders to fully step into their leadership, boldly achieving what’s really important. They work with clients that want amazingly productive teams and exceptional leaders who embody courageous leadership.
Whatever you need and want to accomplish, they’ll work with you to create a customized solution. Read on to learn more about this leader of leaders...