By Bryant Nielson
We’ve looked at fifteen leadership foundations and how they can be applied in various areas of your life. When you put all of those foundations together, you’ll be able to lead effectively - but let’s look at the personal advantages of this ability to lead.
First, you’ll be able to develop your skill even further. Many times if you don’t demonstrate the ability or willingness to lead, you won’t receive any experience. But in certain situations, as we’ve seen, leadership is not always a chance that’s given - it’s an opportunity that you look for and take. When you take these opportunities, you’re just giving yourself the ability to develop your own skills.
With skill development comes self-confidence. Suppose you’re looking for a new job - your interview, panel discussion, or group interview will be all the better because you have confidence in your own abilities. Not only this, you’ll be able to promote self-confidence as part of your leadership package. Take care not to make it overconfidence, but a good balance - and that balance will make you all the more attractive as a leader.
But what if you’re not able or ready to practice leadership in a corporate arena? Take the initiative in your community, community organization, or family. When you do this, you’ll prepare yourself for leadership in other situations. It’s the process of building your own bench strength, as opposed to the bench strength of a team or organization. Wherever you find the opportunity to put effective leadership into place, take it and run with it. You’re preparing for leadership responsibility in the future.
As we’ve seen with many of the leadership foundations, in order to practice you must take a good look at yourself. This applies to many areas, such as communication, emotional intelligence, persuasion, and organizational savvy. As you move into the use of these leadership tools, you’ll be looking in the mirror to determine how you react in certain situations. This introspect gives you a good self-examination and serves as a method of feedback that you might not get in some situations. Even in informal situations, look at the way you react in relation to the leadership foundations - perhaps you can even ask friends or colleagues to give you feedback on your reactions. All of this makes you a better leader - and enables you to use your skill as an advantage.
When people see how well you react as a leader, you’ll also be able to set yourself up as a mentor. Mentorship is a definite advantage, first because it shows your leadership ability up front. But not only this, your mentorship can be used formally as a method to prove your leadership in appropriate situations. As you become a mentor, you’ll again be able to put your skill to the test, as well as obtain feedback and boost your own self-confidence.