It’s Friday! Time for some Kind Leader Introspection! Before we talk about this week’s focus: TRUST, I want to talk about why I’ve chosen to use the word introspection. As leaders, our actions, words and thoughts create both the models for our Followers to use when they have their Leader Hats on, and the cultures of our organizations (family, community, country and world cultures included). When we, as leaders, look at how those who follow us act, and the culture our organization or team has, and we see fear instead of trust, unkindness instead of respect, the first thing to do is stop, take some time and look inside of ourselves to see how what we are doing, what we are modeling, how we are acting and reacting is influencing those who follow us. Introspection means a deep honest look into ourselves, what we are doing, saying and thinking, first, before pointing the finger and looking for reasons outside. Introspection is about looking at the how - the “means” - not simply if the results hit the target. Introspection can be difficult: it forces us to see where we fall short…and then make a plan and take action to change ourselves first. So today, create time for some introspection and think back to the questions raised on Monday:
1. Did you have your followers best interests at heart when making decisions?
2. If you found those who follow you were fearful and didn’t have trust in you, did you work on ways to change that?
I’ll be interested in hearing the thoughts that come from your introspection. Kindness and leadership starts with YOU. And the best thing is, you can change your leadership for the kinder and better any time you want! You just need to start!