People turn to leaders for many things. They look for direction, clarity and for purpose. But, more than anything else, the look to leaders for answers when what they ought to be seeking instead is inspiration. Offering answers is a trap that highly effective leaders know to avoid. They understand that inspiring people to find their own answers is a far more effective way of developing competence in others.<\/p>\n
Before you can lead others you must first effectively lead yourself. Leadership begins with how well you lead your own life – and how by doing so you influence and impact the lives of others. The most spectacular failures of leadership can always be traced back to people who have no capacity to make their own lives work. This is not to say that great leaders must be deities or even perfect human beings. To be a highly effective leaders you must recognize and embrace your imperfections and constantly seek and explore ways to grow and improve yourself. You must be an exemplar of humility and of curiosity without falling victim to introspection.<\/p>\n
Curiosity and humility can make you question yourself and ponder your past. You can get lost introspection and never find your way into the future. People dwell in the past and struggle with things that they can no longer control. The past may offer clues about what the future may bring – but the answers we tend to find are to questions about the past.<\/p>\n
Seeking answers from the past is much less effective than asking questions about the future.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Interrogating the future takes practice. It is hard enough to imagine things that have not yet happened, and it requires unbridled curiosity to visualize things that have never happened before. But this this exactly what is required of real leadership. Great leaders are not measured by how well they guide others in retreat. What makes leaders exceptional is the ability to lead people into the unknown with a vision for a better future.<\/p>\n
Great thinkers, dreamers and philosophers may ask, “what if?” But great leaders ask “how will we?”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
You must be driven by genuine curiosity and reserve certainty for the actions you take. The cycle of curiosity and certainty suggests that your curiosity outweighs your certainty by 3:1.<\/p>\n
Your certainty must in your competence, being prepared to accomplish whatever it is you must – and the indelible purpose that drives your pursuit of a better tomorrow.<\/p>\n
Similarly your strength must be in your capacity to kindle the kind of inspiration in others that capacitates them to not just imagine a better future, but to take the risks always inherent in challenging the status quo by venturing into the unknown.<\/p>\n
Instead of looking to the past for answers, you must look to the future for the questions that will shape and reshape your beliefs as to what is necessary and what is possible. The difference between dreaming and planning all about the questions you ask.<\/p>\n
###<\/p>\n
Phil Liebman is the Founder and CEO at ALPS Leadership – We Guide CEO’s and Their Leadership Teams to Become Exceptionally Competent Leaders and High-Performance Organizations<\/p>\n
www.ALPSLeadership.com<\/p>\n
Phil is also been a Group Chairman with Vistage Worldwide since 2005 – where he helps leaders realize their potential by learning with and from other leaders. He is the author of the soon-to-be published book, “Cultivating MoJo:\u00a0How competent leaders inspire exceptional performance.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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