While writing my personal development plan, I realized that I am currently in the process of finding my own true north. I still feel lost but with some of the guidance in this book, I am beginning to understand where my own compass lies. It was also nice to read that there is no one style of leadership that is correct and that there are no universal traits or characteristics to effective leadership. This insight provided by TN really gave me a positive outlook as I had always thought to myself, I should act more like a good leader, or I should acquire traits of a good leader.
TN really showed me that true leadership comes from within and is exemplified by empowering those around you. To begin the personal development plan, I started with a five-year outlook of what seemed to be the most obvious part, my personal life. This actually was one of the hardest parts of this paper. I found it difficult to really define what the word “personal” encompassed. For me, that word included my family life, and in some ways also contained aspects of my career life. As TN stated towards the end of the book, there really is no delineation of personal and professional life.
One always manages to have an effect on the other, which made it difficult for me to distinguish, but I will attempt to provide a plan for what I define as my personal life. The five year outlook for my personal life centers around one main word, and that word is independence. This is somewhat contradictory to what is preached in TN regarding effective leadership and goal attainment. TN states that in order for leaders to be effective, they must build a team of support. Therefore, on the surface, my overall goal of being independent in the next five years seems to counter what is taught by TN.
I would then need to explain my definition of independence and try to mesh it with what TN teaches and how it can be fostered. For me, the epitome of independence is having a home of my own (that I own). In order to reach this goal, I have already begun taking the necessary steps. First, I have over $50,000 in savings to contribute to a down payment for a home. I am working full time and saving almost 2/3 of every paycheck I take home towards reaching this goal. What struck me was the reason I am able to save such a significant portion of my paycheck. This is because I do not pay rent as I am currently living in my parent’s home.
This seems almost ironic as that is not very independent of me, but really demonstrates TN’s point that you do not achieve your goals alone. There will always be someone there that you can credit as helping you along the way. In this case, those people are my parents. They can also be counted as being in what TN called part of my support team or “Personal Board of Directors”. In order to further reach my goal of home ownership, I am investing wisely in both the investing options provided to me by my place of employment and also a personal stock trading account.
I do have to say that the stock account is not doing very well because of the current economic crisis. Perhaps TN’s advice of learning from failures will come to play in this realm. I will be very careful when I invest in bank stocks next time, especially if that bank is named Citi. On a more serious note, perhaps in my investing activities I will seek out a mentor, or someone with more experience in investing that I can trust will guide me through the process. As TN stated, I cannot be an expert in everything. I must realize where my weaknesses are and take steps to minimize those weaknesses.
Also in seeking experts and attempting to reach my personal goal of home ownership, I am currently shopping for a realtor. I hope to read up more on the local housing market and determine when the best time within this five year time span is best for home purchase. Right now the timing seems ripe for buying and so that may truncate my timeline a bit. Most indicators are that housing prices are either flat or on their way to recovery in the next two years. This means that I should start shopping for a home and have some type of pre-approved loan document in hand.
The measure of achievement of this goal will be me signing the papers for the purchase of the home and of course moving into the home itself. I will most likely celebrate by holding a housewarming party. What keeps me going towards this goal is TN’s emphasis on life story and past experiences. I constantly remind myself that I can do this because I have been working since the age of 16 and have already been able to put myself through college and graduate school. This helps to bolster my confidence that I can reach my goal. The career aspect of my personal development plan was really the most difficult part of this paper.
I do not have a clear idea of what my career goals are. TN states it is important to find what I am passionate about and really intertwine that with my career goals. The problem is that I have yet to find something I am truly passionate about. Lacking that passion for something, I find it difficult to create any clear cut career goals. A couple of points made in TN; however, were helpful in at least beginning to shape what career goals I somewhat lack. First, TN stated it is okay to take time in learning what your are passionate about.
That really helped to calm my nerves as some of the interviewees in TN were 5 years my junior! Next, TN stated that the first 30 years of one’s life is the time to prepare for leadership. That helps me a great deal as I never thought about preparing for the role of becoming a leader. I always thought that was something you get when you arrive at the destination. It never occurred to me that you should prepare for it before you attempt to achieve it. I know this sounds like common sense, but TN did a good job pointing out what was not common sense to me.
Another good point that TN helped in pointing out in terms of career goals is that to reach that pinnacle of leadership, you have to start small. No one can immediately jump into the role of a CEO. There must be trials and tribulations along the way. Anyone, however, can become a leader in their respective positions, even if there is no one in the organization that they are leading. This point really struck home for me. As described in earlier papers, I am currently the lowest paid member of our organization, and do not lead anyone. I am also somewhat dissatisfied with my current job. No one style of leadership , be true to yourself. Lead authentically. -Academic studies have not produced the profile of a leader, no universal chracteristics traits, skills or styles. Real world experience, rather than waiting to get to the top to be a leader, do it everyday. -Authentic leaders bring people together around a shared purpose and empowers them to step up and lead authentically in order to create value for all stakeholders. -Purpose; why they are leading, find passion -solid values; practice what you preach -heart; passion, compassion, empathy eunduring relationships; trust commitment -self discipline; high standards, full responsibility Journey to leardership -Schultz, fear of failure was a driving point. Have courage to follow an unconventional path. Life story defines leadership -what in life inpires you Recognize weaknesss, take advantage of all strengths around you. Sometimes you lack the introspection to line life expereiences to the goals you are pursiuing. Leadership and career path cannot be planned, be open to changes and opportunities. Phase 1: Preparing for Leadership -First 30 years is the tiem to prepare for leadrship.
Not only about advancing career, but also discovering what is important to you. Fear of failure stops many young leaders from jumping into opportunities. Phase 2: leading -becoming ceo is like weight lifting. Must do the the small weights before the big. Taking on added responsibilite, hitting the wall. Phase 3: giving back -non profits Every leadership experience will enable you to grow anddiscover your authentic leadership. Embrace your story. Why leaders lose their way -sometimes external gratification is not enough. Need to have an internal desire to serve something greater than oneself. incapable of acknowledging failures or weaknesses. Intent on keeping power, using skills to to distort reality and in the end their oganization suffers. -craving success. You almost become addicted to success. Turning Failures into Success -Failure will always be present, what do you learn from it? How do you do better next time? Many rising leaders fear failing and aren’t able to cope with greater challenges they face at the top. The lonliness Withinj -Lonely at the top. Sometimes leaders stop listening to those who don’t agree with them. Work and personal life ecome unbalanced.
Derailment: Losing sight of your true north -Imposters: Rise through cunning and aggression. Understand politics of getting ahead. No appetite for self-reflection or developing self awareness. Unable to handle absolute power. -Rationalizers: Appear on top of the issues, and blames external forces or subordinates. Short change current goals for future long term goals. -Glory Seekers: Define themselves by acclaim of the external world. Money, glory, fame, etc. Inside they are empty, which may create envy. -Loners: avoid close relationships, not confused with intorverts.
Loners often have a myriad of superficial relationships. Makes them rigin and not accepting of critique. -Shooting Starts: Always on the go, when problems arise, they move on. -Heroes of their own journeys: May work for solo perfomers, but not for those who ead teams. Role of leaders is to empower others to lead. -Kevin Sharer: Values must be consistent with others in your environment. It is important to love what you do and to learn from failures. Even if you fail, learn from it and apply it next time. Transformation from I to We: -Leadership not about own success, but of empowering others.
We always search for treasure, material or spiritiual. Transformation: Discard myth that leadership means having legions of supporters following our direction. Most important for leaders to, you must realize it’s not about you. There is usually a transformative event, that tests your resolve. Failures, etc. Take conservative criticism. Discover your authentic leadership Knowing your authentic self. Finding the right role, being confident, being consistent, connecting with others. Becoming self aware, chasing eternal symbols of success rather then becoming the person you want to be.
We all have the ability to become better. We have layers like an onion, peel away the outside to reach the inside. Don’t be afaird to be vulnerable. Accept yourself and have self compassion. Practicing your Values and Principles Moral compass to know what is right and wrong. Position of power does not mean you won’t encounter challenges. Stick t your values even when tested. Building good will and being kind an honest will get you far. Acknowledge mistakes. Set ethical boundaries and lead by values. What Motivates you to be a leader? Time and eperience to learn what to motivate.
This may take a long time. Intrinsic motivations are most important. I am motivated by doing a good job at whatever I am doing. John Thain, NYSE CEO. Avoid traps, very each to focus on extrinsic motivation. Money is not a good motivator and will not make you happy. Find what you are good and and what you like to do, a combination will be your best motivator. Build your support team. Leaders do not cucceed on their own. Have someone that is most important to your leadership. Having a mentor or mentors is important, not just as support but also as someone to challenge you.
Having close friends and a personal support group are also key. Have a perfessional support network and personal board of directors. Staying Grounded: Integrating Your Life: Perserves authenticity. Work life and personal life are nto mutually exclusive. Recognize you cant give 110% to everything. Positive and negative emotions carry over between work and home. Family is important, realize you can’t do it all. Religion, exercise. Figure out how you will define success personally. Live with integrity and be true to yourself. Empowering People to Lead: Leadership with purpose and passion.
There should be a purpose to your leadership. Align your purpose with your passions. Empower people to leaned, havemutual respect, treat others as equals, be a good listener, engage people, help teammates and challenge eladers. Optimizing your leadership effectiveness: Your style and power should fit the situation. Defien and refine your leadership style. Use your power wisely link style and power, adapt to the situation and your teammates. Conclusion, realize that goals may not be achieved. Failure is part of the plan. Return to this plan and see what can be learned from the failure.
