Ross Swan

Ross Swan’s Leadership Corner

Strong leadership is leading from within

Ross Swan

The common perception of leadership is that it's all external. On the contrary, it’s what comes from within that dictates a good leader. It’s going within oneself to lead the only thing you can truly control… yourself.

Leading yourself is developing that sense of who you are, what you can do and where you are going.

Its’ setting that course, following it, and correcting it as you go. Life and business are often intertwined, so it also reflects how you work with clients, colleagues, and influence people in general. The more people you need to influence (lead) in your life, the more on show this ability is.

In essence, it comes back to knowing and believing in the person you are. Its staying true to that person, that authentic you.

Being true to yourself means living your internal values, not living someone else’s, just your own. It’s not being overly influenced by outside data, that is, the opinions of others, the media etc. Sure, you accept feedback from people, but you use it only to improve on the person you already are, not to dictate the person you should be.

Steve Jobs once said, “Don’t waste your time living someone else’s life.” Self-leadership is being at peace with doing that.

When on an airline flight and you hear the safety announcement. it always says ‘when the oxygen masks drop down put yours on first’. This means that you are in a better position to help others if you are in a position of strength not weakness. Life is no different. Being at peace with who are gives you that strength.

When asked, people say that one thing they want from their leaders is consistency. They dislike inconsistency in their boss. I can broaden that out and say we struggle with people generally who are inconsistent.

A major contributor to being inconsistent is listening too much to the outside noise and bending in the breeze to that ever-changing data. Changing the person you are to suit it, only creates inconsistencies. Being your authentic self will not.

Yes, use the data, but only use what’s needed to help you become a better version of you.

Being the person who is you, provides the consistency, because it’s always still you. Always bending to suit the data breeze doesn’t. Let the world around you be a reflection of you not you be a reflection of it.

Staying true to your inner self requires you to continually reflect on your behaviour and its impact, both on yourself, and others. Accepting yourself, taking the good with the not so good is key. It requires this reflection to be an honest assessment and not a judgement. Judgements are for courts. If you are judging others, it’s a reflection of you. Once you stop judging yourself, you can stop judging others. Assess them yes, just not judge them.

To be able to reflect and assess yourself, you first need to ask, who is this person that I truly want to be? In other words, how do you want people to describe you as a person. Keep in mind, that people only describe you for how you make them feel.

This question I regularly ask my clients. I then get them to mull it over, then write down their thoughts, listening to their heart not their head. You do the same, don’t write a novel just a brief description.

Once you are satisfied with your description of who you want to be, then determine how you need to behave 24/7, 365 days a year in order for people to describe you that way. (Your personal behavioural check list). There is no magic wand, it doesn’t happen by chance. This checklist just gives you your personal compass to follow to be the person you want to be.

Being a good leader of self is then having the discipline to continually follow that compass. It can be challenging at times to stick to it, so when you see yourself faltering from the checklist, read your description of you again… and again to refuel your resolve.

I restate, that its important you work towards displaying these behaviours all the time. Sure, you might lapse from time to time, that’s only being human, but it is not something you just switch on and off when the mood takes you.

An athlete training for the Olympics doesn’t only train when their coach is with them. They do so much more when the coach isn’t. It’s their desire to succeed that’s motivates them. If your desire is sincerely there to be that person you want to be, it will keep you going.

Remember, you are not working on being better than anyone else, just on being the best person you can be.

I can say without a doubt, once you start to consistently achieve this, and feel the progress, its changes your outlook to one of optimism. You will feel positive and more grateful for everything around you.

So, to conclude, once you have the discipline to lead yourself from within, your freshness in attitude and newfound discipline to stick to being that person will guide you towards the leader of people you want to be.

About Ross Swan

CEO Soul Inspired Leadership Pte Ltd

Ross is a perceptive and responsive leadership consultant, coach, and trainer, with broad experience in varied industries worldwide continually helping leaders to reduce their stress in managing people.

Ross is also a dynamic speaker and podcaster with outstanding skills in communication, presentation, training, team-building, and interpersonal relations.

He works internationally with his projects encompassing many diverse cultural backgrounds.

Throughout the years, Ross has developed a growing desire to put an ongoing emphasis in bringing more soul into business and he believes that the most effective leaders stay true to their authenticity by being soul inspired and it starts by being able to lead yourself.

You can catch Ross at:

www.soul-inspired-leadership.com

https://www.linkedin.com/in/rossswan1/

https://twitter.com/RossSwan2