What makes a leader?

Nowadays we all want to be leaders or we are looking for them to form teams. There are different leadership courses and diplomas, with a clear list of skills that a leader must have: manage and develop teams, communicate effectively and assertively, make complex decisions, know how to handle difficult situations and people, know and implement feedback and feedforward, generate trusting relationships, etc.

The question is: why are these skills difficult to find or, in any case, difficult to sustain over the time? What is it that leaders have behind these visible behaviors? What is it that is so rare to find that makes these profiles the most wanted?

This differential lies in personal leadership. To impact on other people, a leader must have first done personal work, be the leader of his or her own life, mind, emotions, history and future. A leader needs to be brave enough to observe his or her own self, to recognize who he or she is, in light and shadow, and dare to work on a better version of his or her own self.

How could someone inspire a team to achieve extraordinary results if someone has not dared to challenge his or her own barriers before? How could someone have an impactful communication if he or she is not able to listen carefully and respectfully to others, or is not able to listen to his or her own self? A leader needs to inspire and that goes beyond a list of well-executed actions. To inspire we need to BE, rather than DO. To be a person who is honest, sincere, who genuinely cares about others, about the common good; a person who believes in his or her own self and who can believe in others.

For this new year, set your goals not only in terms of results or actions. Ask yourself who you want to BE this 2024, which will be the basis to bring out the leadership skills that are surely in you.

Back to Basics accompanies your leadership development!