We Can Be Our Own Biggest Challenge

 

by John Keyser

Early at a religious service this morning, Fr. Andrew made the point in his homily that we can be our own biggest challenge. That struck me, and I immediately took out a note card and jotted that down.

Later, I reflected, “What does it look like to be our own biggest challenge?” Well, in business, we can get in our own way by thinking of own importance, by thinking that we as senior executives are the major factor in our clients’ satisfaction, and by making assumptions about our team members, other colleagues, and clients.

I remember a 360 leadership assessment I received years ago when I was in business. Among the feedback was that I played favorites. I said to Mary Mavis, my executive leadership coach, that’s not so, I don’t play favorites. Mary, calmly said, “Well, the perception is that you play favorites. Is that the perception you want? If not, what are you going to do differently to change that perception?” In other words, self-awareness should include not just what we think about ourselves, but also how we are perceived by others and how we want to be perceived and received.

Leaders are signal senders. What signals, what messages do we want to send?

I suggest we want to be humble, servant leaders. Humility is the foundation of growth. If we have humility and the inner confidence to regularly ask for feedback and advice, we’ll gain helpful information that will help us and our company improve. Humility sends the signal to our team members and other colleagues that we are striving every day to get better.

To a great extent, our humility determines our success as a leader.

Let’s stop being our own biggest challenges. Let’s get out of our own heads, put aside our egos, and be givers. Let’s try not to have our own agendas, and let’s be genuine and present, helpful and encouraging, with positive energy only. We all have been blessed with goodness within us. Let’s use our goodness to help others feel good about themselves and learn, grow and succeed. Let’s be servant leaders!