Happy 2017! I have returned from the holiday refreshed and replenished, and hope you feel the same.
This month marks the 5th year Anniversary of Step Up Leader! I’m grateful for the decision I made to go solo, taking on the roles of business founder, owner, and client delivery expert. I’m grateful for the remarkable array of client leaders, both individuals and organizations who have allowed me to partner with them on their journeys. Each of them has impacted me in ways both great and small. Those “aha” moments- where we both realized something big just happened—were nourishing to me. I am inspired to continue learning—always searching for cutting edge tools and approaches that will add value for my tribe.
So it seems fitting, on the 5th anniversary of the Step Up Leader, and with the incredible feedback we’ve received over the years from readers of Step Up Now, that I offer some of its fruits to everyone!
Beginning this week, and for the next 21 weeks, I will offer “21 Principles to Become a Better Influencer.”
You can sign up for this free offer here.
Join me for a ride into the Landscape of Leadership…
Principle 1 – Be. Know. Do.
The U.S. Military Academy Leadership Manual states that “only by this self-development will you become a confident and competent leader of character.” But character and knowledge – while absolutely necessary – are not enough. You cannot be effective, you cannot be a leader, until you apply what you know, until you act and do what you must. As with skills, you will learn more leadership actions as you serve in different positions. Leadership is about taking action, but there’s more to being a leader than what you do. Character and competence – the be and the know – underlie everything a leader does. So becoming a leader involves developing all aspects of yourself. (Army Leadership “Be, Know, Do” Leader to Leader. 26 (Fall 2002): 21-27.)
Isn’t it interesting that the premier command-and-control organization in the world uses “Be. Know. Do.”as its credo? If it’s fundamental to training the soldiers who often put their lives on the line to serve and protect others, it may prove valuable for the rest of us.
Mastery starts with the “Be.” Yet what is being? Most of us think that “we are who we are,” and “take it or leave it, that’s what we have.” When was the last time you reflected on who you really are? Not who you wish you were, or who you were as a child or teenager, but who you are now.
If that one was easy, try asking yourself what you really think about being. What are you being today? Who are you being today? Are you committed to being about something you value, honor, and care about? How do you demonstrate that?
Have you taken a recent inventory of what you know? What you don’t know?
There are four quadrants of knowledge:
- What you know you know,
- What you know you don’t know,
- What you don’t know you know, and
- What you don’t know you don’t know. Think about that carefully.
As you walk this path, you will see fundamental questions surface again and again. Very little time and attention is paid to the foundations upon which lives are led, how work is performed, and what shapes our organizations. Yet this is exactly what will move us forward to create functional, empowering, and effective places in which to contribute our creative energy. We can grow in a dynamic way – one in which we create ourselves, our organizations, and our world based upon an entirely different view – one based upon the belief that we are not separate from each other, from those we serve, or from the planet. This is the energy of life that beckons us to join in.
Make 2017 the year in which you “be” in addition to “do.”
I invite you to post your comments here and once again, you can sign up for your free offer right here.