If your leadership is dead and your influence is shriveled up, let me suggest one step to take to help make your leadership come alive.
Get to the end of yourself.
That is it. Die to your self-seeking, self-promoting, self-defending way of life.
When your day starts with you, ends with you and is filled with you, you have set yourself up for ultimate leadership failure because your thoughts lead to actions. People see these actions as they are consumed with you. And people don’t like to follow people who are self-absorbed and consumed with them selves. When you are consumed with yourself your influence goes into the tank because you tend to manipulate others to benefit you. That repels people.
The only way to get your influence moving in a positive direction and to let your leadership come alive is to begin to get past your voracious need to preserve yourself. It truly is a paradox because our leaders don’t mimic this style of leadership. Our business schools spend little time talking about giving your influence away. Most leadership books should basically be called “The Power of Me.”
When you get to the end of yourself people applaud and say, “There he is. That is the real ______ we love.” You will find that this journey is so difficult, but so invaluable. How do I know? Because it has been happening to me. I feel like I have been dying to my own dreams and to my own ambitions that are centered on me and replacing them with desires to influence, serve, give and become the real me. For those who are open to deep spiritual thoughts on this I emphatically recommend the book, Absolute Surrender, by Andrew Murray, a deceased South African who got to the end of himself and had more influence than he could have even imagined.
When you get to the end you will find a new beginning. That new life will be full of the things you have really always wanted. Put the old self away. Get ready for real, fun life. Get ready to make your leadership come alive!
Additional Resource Suggestion:
Making Your Leadership Come Alive: 7 Actions to Increase Your Influence
