Posts Tagged ‘success as a leader’

I don’t know about you but I am continually surprised to find that people want the quick fix when it comes to achieving success.

Maybe it is a result of the need for instant gratification, a belief that you can somehow take some magic potion or unrealistic expectations that drive this.

While you might be able to achieve short term successes by quick fixes, the truth is that it takes long term commitment to achieve sustained success.

On a very practical level, this means willingness to:

1. Build your skills; keep them up to date and relevant.
2. Get the diverse experience that you need to thrive and prosper in these challenging times.
3. Take on new challenges even when you know that there is some risk that they won’t work out well.
4. Make the right moves at the right times.
5. Commit to the long term.

The truth is that even people we recognise as being hugely successful took a long time to get the breakthrough. So start taking the long term view if sustained success matters to you.

Duncan Brodie of Goals and Achievements helps accountants and health professionals to achieve success and realize their professional potential through being highly effective leaders and managers. For more information and to sign up for his free audio e-course click here

In the modern day of mobile phones with facilities to access the web, send tweets, watch video and listen to audio to name just a few, it is easy to fall into the trap of expecting instant success or results.

 

Achieving leadership success on the other hand is very much a long term project.  Pick up any books that are written by or are about successful people and you will notice that far from being an instant success, it took years to get the breakthrough and then even more time to capitalise on that initial breakthrough.

 

So what does this mean for anyone who is seeking to be a successful leader?

 

Make a long term commitment

 

A lot is said about the importance of having a long term career plan.  At the same time few ever sit down and make the time to create some sort of long term plan.  It does not need to be anything over elaborate it can be as simple as a statement of intention.  For example, when I worked in accountancy, my intention was to keep testing myself at the next level partly to prove that I could do it but more importantly to get access to new challenges.

 

Invest in yourself

 

Many people talk about the pressures on training budgets right now and in many organisations the level of funding for training might be being cut significantly.  At the same time a lack of funding from the employer is sometimes a convenient excuse for not undertaking any continuing professional development or even getting that qualification you need.  Think about the longer term.  What would a few hundred or even a few thousand pounds or dollars give you in return long term over your entire career?  Start to think of personal investment in your development as an investment rather than a cost.

 

Seek out different options and then act

 

There have never been more opportunities to grow and develop as there are today.  The internet has opened a huge range of possibilities from teleseminars to webinars to podcasts to free reports to name just a few.  You can also put yourself forward for projects, potentially shadow someone more senior or take a secondment.  Essentially find different options to developing so that you can choose a selection which give you the best return for your time.

 

Bottom Line – Achieving leadership success should be viewed as a marathon not a sprint.  So what commitment do you need to make to achieve more success as a leader?

To be a successful leader it is vital that you are aware of your strengths and use them effectively.  While this might appear to be easy, we all have to a greater or lesser extent blind spots that get in the way of success.  So what are 7 common blind spots that can hinder your progress as a leader?

1. Needing to be right
2. Being overly ambitious with goals
3. Being too narrowly focused
4. Expecting too much from others
5. Self rather than organisational interests
6. Looking good at all costs
7. Unable to accept mistakes

If you are to achieve the career and personal success you desire, you need to be alert to your blind spots.  So what blind spots might be getting in the way of your success?