When I was growing up I had a passion for basketball. I practiced for hours…often beginning my training for the following season a few weeks after the current season ended. I put in the time to understand the fundamentals until they were second nature. Then I worked on more advanced skills when I was ready.
The result was that I was a pretty good ball player.
Fast forward to my thirty-first year of formal leadership roles…
- When did I practice my leadership skills to get better?
- When did I work on the fundamentals?
- When did I know I was ready to work on more advanced skills?
Yes, I went through leadership development classes (and delivered hundreds and hundreds of hours of training to leaders)…but was all of that actual practice?
If we believe a few hours of leadership development training alone is going to count as ‘practice’ we are sorely mistaken. Leadership classes are a perfect way to BEGIN practice….they are definitely not the end.
To layer a famous Winston Churchill quote on our leadership development topic: “This is not the end…it is not even the beginning of the end…it is perhaps, the end of the beginning.”
Classes are an essential start to the process; however, we must practice. We must take risks, struggle, try new approaches…all with the end goal in mind of elevating how we lead.
The inherent arrogance that comes with a fancy job title or recent promotion can be a massive derailer without us even being aware. Surely we don’t need to practice if we’ve achieved this level of success, right?
Remember, the higher up the ladder you climb, the greater the number of eyes (often envious eyes) will be fixated on your every move.
So, do you choose to portray an air of perfection to those around you?
Maybe, showing you’re human just like everyone else opens the door for you to actually practice what you’ve learned?
Practice might just be the secret ingredient that allows you to take that next big step in your career. What do you think? How do you ‘practice’ leading?
Thanks for being here.
Jay
