I found Blogger Kevin Sinclair’s article on The Key to Successful Leadershipvery interesting. Kevin brought up the question, are leaders born or made? The old adage states that leaders are in fact born. Kevin and I both agree and disagree. Kevin writes, “Anyone can learn to become a leader, and be a successful one at that….the key is learning. Leadership is a process, one that requires learning and understanding.”

I really appreciate Kevin’s perspective that a successful leader is one who is willing to keep learning and understanding. He writes, “They have an understanding, that in order to be successful you must take what each day gives you and learn from it and grow. Being a successful leader simply requires that you never stop learning. I have always believed that the day you stop learning is really the day you stop living. In business, they day you stop learning is the day that your business stops growing.”

Are you a leader or manager in your career? If so, do you find yourself consistently learning and trying to understand or are you bored? If bored, I suggest coaching yourself with questions to figure out what your road block is and take some action steps. If you are thinking of transitioning, I suggest first clearing the roadblock and seeing if your passion for learning and understanding accelerates. If you need help, contact me.

If you asked for my opinion about transitioning, I’d ask you the following questions and put them in a ‘Career FIT Plan.’ I believe all career managers (all employees) would find a lot of value from updating their answers to the questions below on a consistent basis:

  • What are your key strengths?
  • What do you love doing?
  • Which core values must be present for you to be your best in your work?
  • Life purpose - Why do you work?
  • Identity - Who are you becoming?
  • Personality Type - What are your natural tendencies?
  • How can you make your current company culture fit you better?

Whether or not you are thinking about transitioning into a new position, I’d be glad to give you a complimentary, confidential consultation. You can contact me at terri@summitviewcareercoaching.com

This entry was posted on Wednesday, August 8th, 2007 at 6:01 pm and is filed under Leadership. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.