Course 2, Discussion 2: Lead by example
Great Leadership, unsurprisingly, starts with yourself!
Practice what you preach. Lead by example. I am sure all of you heard these phrases. But why are they so iconic?
Because the journey starts with the first step and you are the person who is taking the initiative to lead -- Start a journey! So, you are the one who needs to take the first step before expecting others to do it.
To start with leading yourself, close your eyes and visualize two people: someone who inspired and encouraged you to be like them, and someone who discouraged you to be not like them.
Then, write down the good qualities of the person who inspired you as well as the qualities of the second person. You do not have to be specific with the details. Just a bulleted list.
Now, compare the list to yourself. Note the good qualities you have, the bad qualities you have, and give yourself a rating on a scale of 1-10. What we just did is identified your strengths and weaknesses and what you need in order to lead yourself. This allows you to create self-awareness.
Self-awareness is key to leading yourself in the right direction. But, leading yourself is not easy. Just being self-aware isn't enough. It's igniting the spark but not enough to catch the fire. To catch the fire, you need to be persistent with your practice, which is regular reflection. Be consistent with monitoring your efforts and holding yourself accountable.
You can't effectively lead others until you know how to lead yourself. That happens through Self-Observant Leadership: when you deeply understand your identity, compare it to your reputation (how others experience you) and then make meaning of the observations, and choose to adapt.
Exercise:
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
✒️ Respond to one of your peers in this thread
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@Hope
I learned about myself that I am an effective leader because I support my team a lot and I attend meetings with knowledge. Furthermore, I don’t take credit and issue blame to others.
@hirai111 am glad you were able to recognise your strength, those are great strength you have! 💙
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I was able to focus more on my weakness hopefully i will be able to improve myself soon , i learned that sometimes you gotta be the reflection for what you want others to be
@Noor511
Indeed actions speak louder than words!
@Hope
As a kid, I often engaged in self-reflection, to better understand myself before my peers and elders. There have been times I've often debated between certain morals and values instilled in me and how good or bad I am according to those set standards. As I grew older my focus shifted to view it in a more mature light of the unique strengths and weakness I possess, and how to strengthen the former while learning and developing from the latter. Doing this exercise alongwith the source provided, helped me raise an internal awareness of myself as well as gain clarity on the to do and not to do elements impacting effective leadership.
@Alambo905 It's wonderful that you recognized this as a kid! I don't think I was very self aware as a child but I do know there were some behaviors that scared me and others that made me feel safe.
@Hope
What I learned about myself is that I'm inspired to be like people who are respectful, driven, and compassionate. While on the other side, I am not inspired by people that are ego-driven, power hungry, and vindictive.
I believe being aware of our strengths and weaknesses helps us grow as individuals. In order to reach enlightenment, we need to be self aware.
@LittleEggHarbor
those are some very good points you made there! I agree with you :)
@LittleEggHarbor I love this your so self aware of yourself !
@Hope What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
When reflecting on myself, to also take note of the good qualities and not just the bad ones. A good balance is better
@CaringCompanion22
balance is key! I hope this program is going well for you.
@Hope
I learned that to be the best person and leader for others you have to get your own priorities right first. It could be fixing your mental health, emotional maturity, or anything that would benefit yourself. If you don't have these things then you can't help others effetely.
@twerp
Very well put Twerp!😃🌟
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I learned about my strengths and weaknesses through this exercise and it helped me to clearly set my goals to work on leading myself because it is important for us to be able to lead ourselves before leading others.
And this persistence approaches toward these goals would help me to lead effectively with keeping in mind the ‘Things to Do’ as a leader.
@Hope
What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
- being self-aware
- consistency
- efficiency
- supportive/communicative
- being on time or even early
@heathermarie95
I'm glad that you were able to recognize those qualities about yourself. All the very best on your leadership journey!
@Hope
I learnt that I have to be aware about myself to lead me in the right direction. In addition to that I also have to be consistent with my efforts too.
@Dorcas00
Hey I really liked your response and I agree that this exercise was really insightful and helped us become more self-aware
@Hope This really made me look into my qualities, both bad and good!
I think that great leadership truly begins with yourself! If I want to become a better leader, I should guide myself before I guide others just like somebody in this post just said!
In a world where it's so easy to focus on how others think of us, this exercise really reminded me to first understand how I think of myself. It's a call to action to lead myself with the same energy and passion I hope to inspire in others!
@NeonDragon
i love your perspective on the exercise!! I’m really glad it helped you identify your good and bad qualities and helped you to understand leading begins with yourself. This was a pretty cool lesson
