Hello everyone,
Rambunctious Rat here rambling away again. I recently took on a
leadership role and thought it was a good time to evaluate how prepared I was
for that role. I know, cart before the horse, right? When I started
to reminisce about my own journey in becoming a leader, I thought it would be a
worthwhile to share my experiences as this week's post.
Phase 1. Popularity
Leadership: From a very young age,
I started to take on leadership roles. I might attribute that drive to
modeling after my very outgoing father or being a middle child looking for a
way out. Either way, I found myself taking on many student leadership
roles throughout my scholastic years. I am not going to lie, I think I mostly
did it to be popular. In those days, I
was obsessed with being accepted and becoming popular. I wanted to be “the Fonz.” Secondly, we were brainwashed to believe that
you can never have enough extracurricular activities and student leadership
roles when applying for colleges and jobs.
I was suckered to buy that “Who’s who in American Colleges” plaque.
My obsession with
becoming a popular leader did help me to develop many leadership skills and
habits. While spending years practicing the art of making people like me,
I ultimately increased my capabilities around speaking in public, being charismatic,
networking and building relationships, and using rhetoric devices. My
mindset was focused on my personal success.
Phase 2. Team
Leadership: After college, I
was no longer a junkie for popularity or needed resume fillers. I found
my stride and was no longer dependent on the acceptance of others. The
leadership qualities and habits that I developed when I was younger carried
over as I quickly moved up the ranks in the office place. I started to
gain experiences and professional maturity that helped me move into my next
leadership phase.
I began to see that my
actions as a leader can result in the success, or demise, of my team. I became
accountable for not only my performance, but also the performance of my team.
Through my experiences as a supervisor and manager, I developed
capabilities to motivate others, lead others through change, and leverage diversity
among team members. I learned to become selfless and push the best ideas
rather than my ideas. By going to bat for my team, I earned their
trust. By going to battle as part of my
team, I gained their respect. By letting
down my hair, I learned to be an authentic leader. It was the 90s, I had a mullet ponytail. My
mindset had shifted to focusing on team success.
Phase 3. Executive
Leadership: In my early 30s, I
was trapped in the wasteland of middle management. I recall feeling frustrated that I was not
moving forward at the fast and furious pace that defined my earlier career.
I had forgotten what I learned when I was in business school. I was
trapped in the weeds of everyday operations.
My awakening came when I
moved up to the Director level and began to regularly have C-Suite level
conversations. I recalled the three
things that drive any business: make money, safe money, and stay out of jail! There are two key lessons that I learned from
these experiences. 1.) Developing
executive summaries taught me to focus on what mattered the most for running a
business and making executive decisions. 2.) Focusing on business imperatives
in my thought process and my communication conveyed executive presence to
others. My mindset had shifted to focusing on organizational results.
Phase 4. Societal
Leadership: My new leadership role is
the President of a local chapter of a non-profit organization, Ascend. My
teenage self would be thrilled because I was always a VP and never a President.
My team leader self will focus on the success of a very talented volunteer
executive board. My executive self will focus on expanding our foot print,
signing new sponsors and increasing membership. All good, right? I find
myself saying that it is not enough. There has to be more.
It may be because I am a
new parent and I focus on making my world a better place for my children.
It may be that I am finally at a stage in my life when I am ready for a higher
calling. Either way, my mindset for leadership is shifting again. This
role gives me the opportunity to advocate for the voiceless, create
opportunities for the hopeless, and inspire more people to rise to their full
potential. I can lead change in society.
I realize that the mission of my organization matters more than the
bottom line. Since my eyes have opened to what it means to be a leader in
society, I feel like the possibilities for the greater good are endless. My
mindset is shifting to focus on betterment of our society.
Thank you for taking
this introspective journey with me. I want to qualify my points of view as usual. I am an everyday person. I am not the CEO of a Fortune
500 company, nor am I running for an election to be leader of the free world.
I am not even a Partner at my Firm yet.
I am more like you than I am like those extraordinary leaders with the
weight of the world on their shoulders. I hope that you see this post as
a reminder that you can shift your mindset and move forward in your own leadership
journey.
Stay Cheesy,
The Rambunctious Rat
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