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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✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I learned that being an effective leader requires leading by example. In order to help others to success, I must take on a model role to encourage others to follow in the same footsteps, if not, similar.
@greka7
I agree with you on that! Leading from the front is definitely a core part of being a good leader
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I have learnt that over the years I have picked up a couple of the bad habits, that I need to work on to change to make myself a better leader.
How can you become a better leader? What are some of your positive qualities?
Keep going!
All the best with completing this course.😃
By doing this exercise, I learned that most of my qualities stem from people I have seen and observed a lot in my life. I tend to be more of a democratic leader. Thus, people's voices matter.
Dear @Admirablerainbow2825,
Keep up the good work. I believe in you.
@Hope Through this exercise i learnt that i should set clear goals first and the example of leader for my self✨
@AReineRose
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I learnt about the idea of Self Observant Leadership which means knowing your identity, making observations about how you are perceived and thereby adapting accordingly. The video was a great help teaching ways to be cordial, be punctual, stay aligned with the vision/mission, support the team, be a good listener, have all information and not brag/gossip as a true leader.
Something I learnt about myself was I must work on my emotional intelligence when dealing with people and balance my empathy with my individuality.
@resilience2025
Interesting to know and worth reflecting on!
@Hope
I guess that I have my own strength points and weakness ones, some I do know crystal clear and some I'm still navigating through experience.
@Hope
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I think I learnt to appreciate the qualities I've already got and I'll probably start on improving those qualities. In addition to learning new skills.
@benevolentCloud9834
That's great that you've already got these qualities!
What I learned:
Qualities of the people who inspired me:
- confident
- organized/ put-together
- always improving/ seeking new opportunities/ working on something. Never just static
- Didn't complain, fixed whatever problem they were having
- Strong minded
- Supportive, always had the right words to say. Insightful
Qualities of people who didn't inspire me/ actively discouraged me from being like them: basically the opposite of everything above.
How I match up: 5/10 (?)
- I am actively working towards these qualities. Writing them down has actually helped me see that I've come quite a long way and am on the right path! A big area I still need to work on however is confidence and being strong minded. Also having insight and self-awareness.
@awesomeForever34
What an insightful response! I appreciate how much you opened up and shared here 💜
It's so easy to get caught up in thinking about how much we need to improve. I love that writing everything down helped you see the opposite - just how far you've come!
@Hope
Motivation is key to a successful team!
Dear @Hope,
Exercise:
✒️ What did you learn about yourself through the given exercise?
I learnt from this exercise the importance of leading myself, before I can lead others. I always heard that example and didn’t know what it meant till I understood now.
✒️ Respond to one of your peers in this thread
i will