10 Foolproof Ways to Guard against Leadership Ignorance

We are almost halfway through the year and it is a good time to ask yourself, ”How have you grown in the first half of this year?” “What have you learned that you did not know at the beginning of the year?” People follow leaders they respect and people find it easier to respect and follow leaders who are continuously growing and improving the condition of their organization and team.

Have you learned new knowledge or skills in the areas of:

• Communication
• Giving feedback
• Holding team members accountable
• Coaching direct reports to grow and develop
• Improving cross-departmental communication, collaboration and teamwork
• Listening
• Innovation: continuously improving your organization and team
• Setting strategic direction
• Leaning in and resolving conflict
• Welcoming feedback and putting it into action
• Creating an environment where team members love coming to work
• Building an even stronger relationship with your boss
• Building even stronger relationships in difficult situations or with difficult people
• Improving your ability to sell your ideas to internal and external customers

In each of the areas listed above, if we were to ask you, your boss, your peers and your direct reports to rate you on a scale of one to ten, with one low and ten high, what would be your top three highest rated competencies and what are the three areas that will be rated as your greatest opportunities for improvement?

If you are committed to continuous growth, then you have had this thought on more than one occasion…I am continuously amazed at how ignorant I was just two weeks ago.  

What are your growth goals for the second half of this year? Pick the areas that you want to improve and then get to work. Most people think about the need to learn new knowledge and skills. But thinking and not taking action is exactly what most people do. What makes great leaders stand out from the herd is when everyone else is thinking about an idea, great leaders are not only thinking, they are taking the needed action to grow and improve their skills. Listed below are just some of the actions that our best clients are taking to polish their skills and guard against leadership ignorance:

1. Reading physical books or E books
2. Listening to audible books
3. Reading business or industry publications
4. Engaging an executive coach
5. Participating in a 360 Leadership Development Assessment
6. Developing a mentee-mentor relationship
7. Attending a conference
8. Joining an association
9. Conducting a training session or seminar for their company or association
10. Setting development goals

What are your growth goals for the rest of this year? Let us know about your goals and what actions you intend to take. Get to work! Another year will be behind us before we know it.