What Do You Stand For?

This post is not about your political views, religious affiliation or insert-another-sensitive-topic-here. I write about leadership, and that is at the heart of the question in the title.

Your View Matters

A colleague of mine asks new leaders this question regularly. Think about that for a second. You’re all fired up to start your new gig, and the HR executive asks you directly what you stand for as a leader. What would you say? Are you ready to answer right now?

I’ll wait for a good answer…because I’m guessing you can only come up with a cliche filled ramble under this type of pressure.

"Um, teamwork…and bringing people together.”

Please.

Your Behavior Matters 

Now that you’re committed to coming up with your answer you’ll quickly realize I’ve placed a fairly significant burden on you. You now have to live up to your answer to the “what do you stand for” question. 

Think for a moment about the influential leaders in your life. One of the reasons they came to your mind so quickly just now was because of one key leadership trait.

Consistency.

The values they believed in as leaders were demonstrated day after day after day. Now you will do the same thing. It’s hard to sustain anything, but once leading others shifts from being your job to being who you are as a person, you will find it much easier to find that cadence of consistency.

How About You

Take some time today to write down exactly how you would answer the question. What specifically will you say? What are the words that will define you? Once you’re ready...

I’d love to hear from you.

No Excuses. 

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