The calendar flips so fast, I can feel the gusts of wind coming from the pages. It’s not productive to be stressed by that fact, so I choose to focus on how to make the most of the moments. Leadership is influence, so your daily actions matter. Lead from within.
Here are 12 exercises to build your leadership muscles. They’ll not only make you stronger & increase productivity and ensure joy in the journey.
12 Exercises to Build your Leadership Muscles
1. Take a Leadership Assessment. I suggest one that’s free and readily available: ask two people on your team for feedback.
2. Revisit the written vision statement for your team or project. If you can’t put your hands on it, craft a new one.
3. Set S.M.A.R.T. goals for the next 6 months. Specific, Measurable, Articulated, Realistic and Timely
4. Implement the 3 x 3 rule. Make 3 calls to prospective clients or customers every day by 3 PM. Emails do not count – we’re talking phone calls!
5. Give away something that you want more of in your life.
6. Praise someone.
7. Take a brisk walk to clear your head.
8. Find a mentor. If you already have one, thank them.
9. Really listen to someone. “Most people don’t listen with the intent to understand; they listen with the intent to reply”, says Stephen Covey.
10. Delegate something meaningful.
11. Have a career/development discussion with a mentee.
12. Take inventory of underutilized assets, both tangible and intangible and make a plan to redefine and redeploy them.
We are all leading someone. Do it with excellence.
“It is not what we read, but what we remember that makes us learned. It is not what we intend but what we do that makes us useful. And, it is not a few faint wishes but a lifelong struggle that makes us valiant.”- Henry Ward Beecher