Ditch The 'Me' Mindset
Leaders who operate from a place of ‘me’ instead of ‘we’ or ‘us’, often engage in a type of performative leadership – where they feign concern and empathy for their staff in an effort to manipulate, blame and point fingers at others for failures or wrongdoing, have very poor listening skills, make unilateral decisions for their teams without input or understanding and display highly destructive energy in and outside of the workplace.
Self-Centered vs. Self-Aware
Self-centeredness is the enemy of successful leadership and positive results. A leader’s ego does not necessarily lead to the ultimate failure of an organization, but it can result in employees, clients and other very important stakeholders ‘checking out’ from what may have once been a positive working dynamic.
Self-Aware leaders on the other hand, operate from a more anabolic or positive energy levels – where they are intuitive, they value cooperation and nurture relationships between themselves and their team members and they are open to feedback, etc.
Do you know a leader who is more self-centered than self-aware, or vice versa?
What kind of leader are you?
Coaching enables us as leaders to be able to move away from leadership practices that are self-serving that ultimately do not serve us, to ones that promote cooperation and community. To achieve such a culture, leaders must:
Foster a culture where employees and colleagues are unafraid to tell you the truth about your leadership and their work environment.
Seek to understand others’ emotions and perspectives by listening to them and learning from them. Level 4 of the Energy Leadership Chart speaks to an approach to leadership that exercises empathy and compassion and values service to others.
Admit when you are wrong and accept your personal and professional limitations.
--------
Nadine Burrowes-Seaga is a Life & Leadership Coach and the Founder & Chief Energy Officer (CEO) of People Development Consultants.