Be an Innovative Leader Who Capitalizes Change

As you instill a culture of leadership, you create an environment of trust and perseverance. It isn’t enough to have a business full of ambitious go-getters. You need all members of your team to be people who are accountable, confident and take ownership of their day-to-day responsibilities.

Perhaps two of the strongest traits recognized in great leaders today are personal awareness and integrity. Personal awareness means that you recognize your influence on others, and integrity means that your intentions match your actions. Without these two skills, a person will struggle to trust and be trusted. When someone doesn’t trust and they are not trusted, they won’t persevere. If trust or perseverance doesn’t exist, there won’t be innovation or an ability to capitalize on or leverage change.

Personal Awareness

This is your ability to recognize your influence on others. When you increase your level of personal awareness, you’ll instantly improve your ability to be a leader.

First, think of people with whom you have a good relationship. Think about the reputation of these individuals and your energy level when you’re around them. These people have a good reputation, right? They are people you can naturally trust and you feel energized and motivated when you around them, right?

Next, think of those people with whom you don’t have as good of relationship, but an improved relationship would benefit you and your team. Think about the reputation of these individuals and your energy level when you are around them. You don’t think as highly of these individuals, do you? When you are around them, you might say your energy level is low and you are less motivated, right?

Now, describe your ability to remain positive in each situation. When you are around people with whom you have a good relationship, it’s easy. However, when you are around people with whom you don’t have as good of relationship, it’s not so easy.

To improve your skill of personal awareness, you must develop an understanding that you have influence on everyone with whom you come in contact. Great leaders have a high level of personal awareness and recognize that those around them are not there to inspire and influence them. Rather, those around them are there to be inspired and influenced.

Integrity

This is your ability to let your intentions match your actions. When you increase your level of integrity, you’ll notice your leadership ability improves.

We can all remember a time when our intentions didn’t match our actions. What’s typically the outcome when this happens? A break down in trust and eventually a lack of desire to persevere, or “fight for the cause.”

What habits and patterns do you want to change so that you can operate with a higher level of integrity? Instead of me making suggestions for the habits and patterns, let me tell you that when you…

• Find yourself in a situation that makes you nervous
• Feel yourself beginning to grimace or tighten your eyes
• Begin to have feelings that typically lead to an issue
• Hear words that indicate you’ve stepped into a problem
• Are having thoughts that are negative

…your personal awareness is dangerously low and you are about ready to have a breach of integrity.

Think about what is likely to happen when you begin to operate with a higher level of personal awareness and integrity. Wouldn’t you be in a much better position to be innovative, not to mention capitalize on and leverage change?

RedRock Leadership can help you instill a culture of leadership. We can help you grow beyond just having a company full of ambitious go-getters. With the proper training, all the members of your team can be accountable, confident and take ownership of their day-to-day responsibilities to help you grow stronger.