Leadership!

LEADERSHIP DEFINITIONS: THE JOURNEY BEGINS

(This is a work in progress. I’m still synthesizing and simplifying many of my notes and writing about leadership over the past few years. My apologies in advance for any potential redundancies.)
Hope you like it, here it goes:

DEFINITION/RIFF #1:

Leadership is the art of facilitating collaborative creation toward a powerful goal.

Leaders guide and empower a team of willing participants towards a visualized, articulated, actualized and constantly evolving end.

Leaders bring forth a deeply accessed vision, nurture their teams by facilitating inspiration and collaboration and manage results through supportive accountability.

Leadership can be practiced and applied by anyone at any level of a team or organization.

Leadership growth involves an ongoing process of developing the skills and awareness’ for inspiring, nurturing and managing collaborative work in progress.

DEFINITION/RIFF #2

Leadership is a synergistic process of facilitating change that transforms its participants, the world, and the leader his or herself.

Leadership creates an alchemical change that dissolves structures, creates tools, and integrates resources into a new creation that is led by a vision for change.

Leadership is about taking responsibility for leading the creation process in a way that will benefit all concerned: whether it happens or not.

DEFINITION/RIFF #3

It’s our job as leaders to nurture, cajole and at times demand the best in ourselves, our co-collaborators, our community and our world.

Fully empowered leadership is a combination of presence, vision, vulnerability, accountability, ability to hold/manage paradox and contradiction, and to become an effective creator, facilitator and appreciator of change.

IN SUMMARY:

Leadership is a process of:

-Visualizing Change and New Creation

-Facilitating Creative Collaboration

-Supporting Growth of Self, Team, Community

-Supporting/Shaping/Nurturing the acceptance and integration of a new creation

-Learning to love what was created: in ourselves, our team, our world and our products

HOW DO YOU RATE YOUR LEADERSHIP SKILLS?

Please rate yourself on a scale of 1 to 10
10 = This statement is 100% true for me
1 = This is statement is never true for me

BEING A LEADER

Growth and Presence as a leader:

I acknowledge myself as a leader, even though I know I have more to learn.

I am actively learning about my leadership strengths and challenges, am committed to my growth as a leader and am supporting the growth of those around me.

I am fully present in my life and my work, and I know how to get back on track when I get distracted or lost.

I take full responsibility for my actions and the success of my business and team.

I know who my heroes and mentors are and have the ongoing support of someone in my life right now.

I am confident that things will work out if we all stay present to the process.

Personal Effectiveness:

My office and desk is well organized and supports me in being efficient and creative.

I have clear priorities at the beginning of every day.

I manage my personal and professional responsibilities efficiently and in a way that allows for spontaneity and last minute inspirations or changes in plans.

I have learned how and when to delegate.

I have an efficient support staff that I trust.

I know how to manage and modulate my energy level for maximum effectiveness and results.

I have a structure of support to hold me accountable to my goals.

Vision/Mission/Goals:

I have a clear vision for my life, my company and my community.

I can prioritize, negotiate and modify my company’s goals and deadlines in relation to the realities of time and resources.

Communications:

I am an excellent communicator who speaks clearly and listens on multiple levels.

When listening I know the difference between data, judgment, and feelings.

I can communicate my vision and goals in ways that everyone on the team can understand, relate to and respond to.

I give supportive, acknowledging feedback to everyone on my team at least once a week.

I am self-disclosing with my impressions and opinions and can present them with tact, compassion and discretion.

I’m willing to speak the hard truth to my employees, partners and investors.

Engaging with risk:

I engage consciously with taking risks whether based on hard data or intuition, and am conscious of the fears that arise in the process.

Decision making:

I make timely and informed decision, even when I don’t have all the information I’d like.

Intuition:

I stay engaged with my intuition and know how and when to speak it.

Business:

I have a sense of where my industry is headed, take steps to embrace trends and let go of obsolete ways of doing business.

I have an excellent command of the technologies required to excel in my business.

Life/work balance:

I spend enough time outside of work to enjoy my life.

I take excellent care of my body and mind and make “self care” a priority.

I am good at “saying no” when necessary and support my team in doing the same.

Emotional intelligence:

I know how I feel and know how to deal with my feelings at work.

I know how to deal with the feelings of others at work.

I know my fears and vulnerabilities and am not controlled by them.

LEADING A TEAM

Accountability:

I know how to manage accountability to people I report to, and with the people who report to me.

I set realistic, attainable goals and deadlines for projects and am open to negotiate a win-win to meet our company goals.

Collaboration:

I know how to lead a team of creative collaborators that brings the best out of all of them.

Meetings:

I know how to run meetings that are informative, efficient, and that encourage participation from everyone present.

Conflict:

I manage and facilitate conflict between team members with ease.

I address challenges, upsets or conflicts as soon as possible and can facilitate a solution that is best for all concerned.

Building and managing relationships:

I take the initiative in building relationships within the team, the company and our industry.

My business has a clear agenda and everyone on our team knows what they are.

I have taken on a mentorship role with someone at my company and encourage others to do the same.

Developing Trust:

My team knows it’s 100% safe to tell me what they really think.

Developing your Team:

I know the strengths and growth areas of my team and am taking actions to support them in their development.

Projects:

I have the ability to enroll and collect the necessary tools, resources and team members required to succeed.

I am comfortable with re-evaluating and refining project goals, priorities and deadlines as the process unfolds.

I can stand in the middle of chaos and uncertainty and observe, appreciate and articulate the lessons learned and the progress that has been made.

Obstacles:

I can identify obstacles to success, whether real or imagined, and work through them to meet the team’s goals.