The one quality that sets leaders apart from others
True leaders have vision, creativity, drive, humanity among other qualities. But there's one that sets them apart from everyone else and stamps them in a class of their own.
The one quality that sets leaders apart from others is that leaders are lifelong learners.
They make that commitment, to continually educate themselves through study, passing on what they know, conversations, accepting other perspectives, being curious. Because change is constant but growth is optional.
We get the choice to grow, adapt and achieve, or stay stuck.
American author and speak John Maxwell said the greatest obstacle isn’t intelligence or ignorance, it’s the illusion of knowledge.
One of Maxwell’s famous 21 laws of leadership is something he calls the ‘Law of the Lid’, which means our team will never outgrow us, or clients will never outgrow us, our business will never outgrow our own personal development.
I know some of you at some stage will have had a health and fitness routine. What happens when you stop exercising? Do you stay fit? Of course not, we fall off a cliff.
In Melbourne we have this thing called ‘The Covid 5’ because when we went into our lockdown for months and months, a lot of us put on 5kgs.
Leadership is the same.
We never arrive at great leadership, and there’s a gift in this. It’s the gift in the journey.
Leaders spend time every day going, ‘How can I get better?’ and it’s from a place of authentically wanting to be better for themselves, their clients and the world.
Trees don’t just get to a certain height and go, ‘I’m done.’ The more they keep growing the stronger they get and the more they reach for the sky and contribute to the eco system around them.
Leaders are the same, The more we work on ourselves, the bigger our dreams can be.
If you like the sound of this, I invite you to click here and I'll save your spot at November 28's 'Disruptive Leadership' virtual summit, where we'll talk about these ideas and many more.
It could be the first step on your leadership journey!
Daniel Burgess is a Pro Coach mentor at The Coaching Institute, and a speaker and coach. Working one-on-one, he has helped hundreds of people develop self-belief and overcome their biggest challenges. He has coached thousands of people to rewrite their stories and chase their dreams.
