Have you ever thought about what ‘being awesome’ means as a leader? Many leaders shy away from this reflection because it seems arrogant or impossible to attain that status. Leaders tend to reserve the term “awesome” for someone who is the best of the best.
Instead, I challenge you to think about being awesome in different terms. Being awesome means delivering something highly valuable to those you lead. That value could be empowering them, or inspiring them, or creating opportunity for them to grow. Being awesome is actually about asking how we create opportunities for them. How we can challenge them to be their best self, and elevate the ability of those around us.
Why are those such a high priority for awesome leaders? Because each of these are other focused not us focused. They cause us to seek out the best for those we serve and totally change our definition of success. Serving our needs is easy – serving the needs and seeking the best for others is not easy or convenient. Therefore, we have few examples of really awesome leaders.
When I talk to job candidates and ask them what they valued most in leaders they have worked for, they almost never talk about their compensation. Instead, they talk about leaders being open, available for mentoring, challenging them to grow, and placing trust and confidence in them. None of this is about money but these are the most valuable things you can provide to your team members.
Leaders can never be too busy to inspire, to challenge, to empower and to mentor their team members. Being an awesome leader requires that we step back from the urgent items on our to-do lists and instead focus on leading our team. There will always be urgent things to attend to, but your team will not stay intact or reach their full potential without your mentoring and leadership.
Choose to be that awesome leader today!
