Don’t Ignore These Signs to Grow as a Leader

The signs that it’s time to refine your leadership style are sometimes subtle. They can be easy to ignore and self-reflection isn’t always an easy task. Take the time to evaluate your current effectiveness from two vantage points: internal and external signals.

From your internal (or personal) perspective, here are some signs that suggest your current leadership style might not be working for you:

You experience negative emotions about work at least once a day – frustration, anger, weariness or resistance to the work at hand or to certain people.You wonder about your health and wellbeing more than once a week or it is a constant concern in the back of your mind. You find yourself uninspired. The idea of being in your current role in two years makes you dream of quitting, even without an enticing career alternative.  You begin missing meetings or confusing appointments on your calendar and aren’t sure why.

From the external (or constructive criticism) standpoint:

You were surprised by the content from a review in the past eight months.Your career seems stalled. Others are being promoted around you and your next logical career step isn’t clear.Your comments or emails are met with hostility or dismissal.You are experiencing a personality clash with more than one person.  

If any of these signs apply to you, now is the time to address your leadership style.

Here are some simple steps to try: 

Realistically assess where you are. Create a file on your personal computer or in your home office and put all your feedback in one spot. Jot down the feedback that bothered you over the past year. Keep track of positive, constructive and negative feedback. See if you are receiving similar feedback from more than one person. Pay attention to the input as an unbiased resource – as if you reporting to the police or a doctor. You want to identify themes, not judge them. Look for themes to guide your development areas.   

Tackle persistent self-awareness themes. Self-awareness demonstrates integrity, congruency and a desire to be at one’s best. Own your development areas. No one is perfect – it’s what people do to balance their vulnerabilities that can make a big difference.  Small steps can yield big results. Always late? Drop one thing per day from your to-do list. Interrupt often? Write down your interruption rather than speak. Control freak?  Find one thing to let someone else perform and praise their results without feedback. Watch for changes in how people treat you over the month.

Have a picture or plan for what these changes could bring you in three, six and twelve months from now. If visualization works for you, picture how it would feel to walk into your office with specific changes in place. For example, visualize how it would be to start each morning knowing your entire action list could actually be completed at the end of the day. Imagine that every interaction would be welcome because it wouldn’t contain a reminder of something promised that is late or forgotten. The idea that you could have even one day like that can motivate you to make changes.

Create a simple, written plan for what you are going to do for 30 days – then do it. Look at your plan every day, even more than once. For example: 

Keep an action list of everything you will do daily and remove two items.  Don’t defer…take them off. If your objective is to be more self-aware, find an assessment and try out one suggestion in the assessment daily for 30 days. Find a partner to work on your leadership styles together. If you want to be a better listener, count the number of times you interrupt others or cut them off. Invite someone you trust to do the same and compare numbers. No judgment…just the number. 

Finally, make this a monthly activity. Think about what you want your internal and external feedback to be and what you want to be known for as a leader. Then get started. Your style is evolving with or without thoughtful input, so take the necessary steps to be more of who you want to be.

Gwen Parks is a respected global expert in leadership and team success.

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