If one chooses to become involved in a position of leadership, doesn’t it make sense that he should also opt to be as good and impactful a leader as he could possibly be? Wouldn’t that attitude and perception also make sense in our everyday life and performance? Personal greatness must be about optimizing our personal performance, and this only comes about as a result of a combination of a positive attitude, enhancing one’s personal skills and skill set, and emphasizing taking timely action, rather than resorting to stalling or procrastination. The military slogan of “Be all that you can be,” would be a wise and productive approach for anyone that truly wishes to be impactful and meaningful.
1. Why is it that our personal attitude is so often discussed as it relates to so many aspects of our lives and performance? It is because unless we put ourself in the best place mentally and attitudinally, we reduce our probability of success, because we focus on the reasons why we can’t, as opposed to how we can get something done. While some may consider any discussion about our attitude to be overly basic and simplistic, it is indeed our mindset and attitude that so often controls our actions, and our willingness to proceed forward in a meaningful and impactful manner. Without a positive attitude, how could anyone truly lead?
2. However, merely having a great attitude will not guarantee success. Success and optimal performance demands taking essential and well designed actions. A truly positive action will create a positive self image and a sufficient degree of self confidence to take needed risks that lesser leaders will often avoid. However, for these risks to have the best probability of achieving their objective, a leader must be trained, continuously practice, truly learn, and regularly use his acquired and impactful skills. One of the major reasons that so many organizations often face somewhat of a dearth of leadership is that they either fail to recognize, or minimize the importance, need for, and significance of professionally designed leadership training.
3. The combination of a positive attitude and possession of most of the necessary and essential skills, must be combined effectively to lead to timely action. Many in leadership seem to fear taking action (apparently for fear of failure or making a possible decision), but the greatest obstacle facing far too many in leadership positions is that they procrastinate. Procrastination is often the greatest risk any leader can perform, because avoiding action generally is not a lack of, or avoidance of action, but rather a burdensome, poorly designed and implemented action.
Shouldn’t our personal goal to optimize our personal performance on a regular and consistent basis? Aim to proceed regularly with a positive attitude, enhance your skills, and take action proactively, rather than waiting until you have no choice!
Richard has owned businesses, been a COO, CEO, and Director of Development, as well as a consultant. He has professionally run events, consulted to over a thousand leaders, and conducted personal development seminars, for over 30 years. Rich has written three books and well over a thousand articles. His company, PLAN2LEAD, LLC has an informative website http://plan2lead.net and Plan2lead can also be followed on Facebook http://facebook.com/Plan2lead
