Quote Of The Week #162
Tag: Truth
The Importance Of Kindness In Leadership
Kindness is extremely hard to implement in the world we live in today because according to popular belief, kindness is weakness…
However, in the workplace, kindness is essential to leadership success.
Furthermore, genuine acts of kindness in the workplace don’t go unnoticed as people tend to pay it forward.
Indeed, most people who have been through fire in their personal and professional life appreciate serenity and kindness. They would try everything to maintain their self-worth and peace of mind.
Wondering how to develop kindness in the workplace?
Benefits Of Kindness in Leadership
Kind leaders act with the best interest and on behalf of their team and organization. They are authentic, humble, have high morals and a sense of decency.
In kind organization, leaders believe that the people are the heart of the organization.
Furthermore, leaders are able to increase engagement and empower team members who gradually grow in confidence.
In addition, being kind doesn’t mean that you are soft, a pushover, that you are avoiding conflict, that you lack boundaries, that you are people pleasing or that you have to put up with bad behavior.
It means that you take time to listen and understand the people around you before acting or making a decision. It also means that you analyze the consequences of your decisions.
1. Kind leaders are kind to themselves
Kind leaders are firstly kind to themselves and the people closest to them.
They celebrate their own success, forgive themselves when they make mistakes and set clear boundaries.
Kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking creates profoundness. Kindness in giving creates love. - Lao Tzu Click To Tweet2. Kind leaders use the Golden Rule
The best and strongest leaders put people first and treat their team with kindness.
They acknowledge people, show respect and demonstrate that they care. They simply treat people the way they want to be treated. They understand that they can get more things done, they have to treat people like people.
For example, they have face to face conversations and ask people how they are doing. They can be generous with their time and actively listen to people.
3. Kind leaders set clear expectations
They let people know what needs to be done to avoid miscommunication, misinterpretation, misdirections.
They don’t give out false objectives and avoid sending their team members on a wild goose chase. They celebrate their success and the success of others..
Team members will then commit to their work and reach their goals.
4. Kind leaders tell the truth
Telling the truth encourages growth within the team and builds up the leader’s credibility and respect.
They understand that the truth comes with consequences but they also want the best out of their teams so they overpass their need for self-preservation or self-interest.
They place people in the right positions and give honest feedback to help people perform at their best.
5. Kind leaders agree to disagree
A difference in opinion doesn’t dictate their character.
They have great communication skills and can handle tough conversations.
They don’t ostracize or belittle people who don’t like them.
6. Kind leaders believe in equality and equity
They treat everyone equally, regardless of their personal bias, stereotypes, personality, character and performance.
They are culturally sensitive and advocate for inclusion.
7. Kind leaders create a safe environment
Kind workplaces increase productivity and improve the company culture.
Leaders understand that employees need to feel safe in order to be productive.
Unkind leaders instill fear and use their power and position to make their employees comply. Employees feel unsafe and tend to quit their jobs or resort to the same bad behavior to survive.
Last Words Of Advice!
What of being kind requires too much time and effort that I don’t have? Kindness is a long term investment that requires authenticity, strength and courage.
There are some people who will create chaos, use fear and anger as a management, and try to discourage you from being kind.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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17 Risks Every Leader Should Take
We make decisions all day that will affect the rest of our lives.
These decisions have to be thought through in order for us to have the life we want.
They affect our self-esteem, relationships, career, lifestyle, … our everyday.
The truth is, there is always an element of risk in everything that we do.
Wondering what are the risks that every leader should take?
1. Bet on yourself
The best bet you can take is on yourself.
Indeed, you are your best tool for success even if you cannot predict the future or the outcome of your decision.
If you want to achieve great things, you must first believe in yourself then make sure that you are always performing at your best.
2. Get to know yourself better
Getting to know yourself better means trying new activities, seeing what you like and dislike, what you are good at or not.
Being authentically yourself requires courage and the belief that nobody needs to like you.
3. Improve on yourself
Change is scary for most people.
When you try to improve on yourself, the people around you will resist that change, may even think that you are crazy and may not recognize you.
They will pressure you to revert to your old self. You will risk losing friends and family in order for you to grow and to feel good about yourself.
4. Reinvent yourself
Don’t do what is expected of you.
Your life will be dull if you did what everyone else wanted of you.
Your friends and family certainly have your best interest at heart but most of the time they can stunt your growth and bring down your expectations so you don’t outgrow them, so you don’t change.
To break these expectations, start doing things that your entourage will laugh or look down upon.
5. Put yourself out there
Everyone observes and judges others at some point in their life. Honestly, we all do it whether we mean to do it or not.
Everybody criticizes. Criticism can be negative or positive but it can sometimes be useful.
It only hurts if you let it or if you agree with the criticism.
So, put yourself out there:
- Risk of being judged or appearing foolish.
- Don’t be afraid to look stupid doing something.
6. Pursue your dreams
Don’t live in regrets and what ifs.
You don’t want to get old and realize that you didn’t do what you set out to do.
Furthermore, the happiest or most content people are driven, purposeful and allow themselves to dream and act upon their dream.
There comes a point in time when you have to chose between your goals and your friends. You have to know that it is OK to miss out on fun events with friends and family in order to work on your goals and advance your purpose.
7. Admit your mistakes
When you take risks, you will always make mistakes.
Mistakes are signs that you are human, trying new things and getting our of your comfort zone.
Sometimes, we think that there is no going back from our mistakes, we cannot move on and we cannot be forgiven for what we have done.
You will ever know if you don’t take the risks and ask for forgiveness.
8. Learn to forgive
When other people on your team make mistakes, you must learn to give them a second chance.
The risk or the certainty is that they will mess up again but they will have enough confidence to fix their mistakes.
Consequently, they will trust you more, be more creative and forgive you more when you make a mistake.
9. Show emotion
In the workplace, showing emotion is risky because people will tend to use them against you.
In order to not be taken advantage of, you really have to own them and discipline yourself.
10. Ask questions
Leaders must acknowledge that they don’t know everything.
They must therefore listen, ask questions and value their employees.
It’s better to ask questions and look dumb for a few minutes than say nothing and be dumb for a lifetime.
11. Speak up
Leaders must speak truth to power, speak with truth, power, integrity and transparency.
They must stand up for what they believe in and speak up when it’s right even when it’s hard to do.
In addition, they express their opinion, don’t try to manage other people’s feelings and opinions: they say what they mean and mean what their say.
People who are able to speak up confidently, say what bothers them and what doesn’t are the people who usually go far in life.
12. Analyze opportunities
Before taking any risks, you must always analyze the pros and the cons of your decisions.
You have the right to say no to opportunities that don’t fit you.
You have the duty to say yes more often to things that scare you.
Just remember that you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.
13. Risk rejection
If you haven’t been rejected in life, then you haven’t done anything worthwhile.
You have to dare to apply to jobs you don’t have the qualifications for, talk to people outside your circle with different affinities.
If people don’t return your interests, then they are the ones missing out.
14. Let go of things you cannot control
You must take the risk that everything will work out on its own and you don’t have to control everything.
15. Don’t be afraid of getting hurt
Taking risks implies that you will be vulnerable most of the time.
In other words, it means that you open yourself up to get hurt.
Because pain is inevitable, you can go for it and perform at the best of your abilities.
16. Overcome your fears one by one
You will not feel confident going towards your fears. However, once you have faced your fears, you will feel good about yourself and be ready to take on any life challenges.
In reality, your fears are not as bad as you think and facing them help you build confidence.
Most of the time, your mind and your ego are exaggerating your fears to protect you.
17. Travel
Travelling allows you to reframe your mindset, to learn new things and meet new people.
It also allows you to try out different versions of yourself.
It costs money but it is totally worth it.
Last Words Of Advice!
Life is an adventure! Don’t live in regrets and live your life to the fullest.
Taking risks is the best chance you have to get to know yourself, predict the future and achieve your highest potential.
The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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12 Ways Leaders Live Life To The Fullest
Leaders are generally very busy and have a tendency to spread themselves pretty thin.
They dabble in multiple activities but don’t take the time to relax and to smell the flowers.
While achieving their goals, it seems that they forget to live life to the fullest and can hardly make the difference between Monday, Friday or Saturday.
Wondering how leaders live their life to the fullest?
Living life to the fullest means that you go after what you want without letting fear get in the way.
1. Leaders focus on themselves
Leaders work towards their goals everyday, focus on themselves and not on others.
Leaders who live their life to the fullest focus their time and energy on things that matter.
In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less, Greg Mckeown urges us to discipline ourselves, to be selective of the activities that you partake in.
2. Leaders give way to their imagination
Leaders don’t downsize their dreams.
Instead, they dream so big that it scares them.
They expect great things from themselves.
They are just convinced that they will succeed no matter what.
3. Leaders are self-assured
They don’t care what others think about them and don’t live by other people’s expectation.
In addition, they say yes to opportunities that they want, they don’t settle for less, for people or a job they don’t respect.
Furthermore, leaders don’t complain, make excuses, or procrastinate.
4. Leaders go after what they really want
Life is shorter than we think. Years go by in a blimp and leaders know that.
I can hardly remember what happened last year and the year before that.
All I know is that I didn’t do what I really wanted to do.
To go after what they really want, leaders:
- Maximize their potential
- Choose their job and activities carefully (if they can).
- Are selective of whom and what they give their energy to.
5. Leaders do something that they really enjoy everyday
If you like to read like I do, you can take time off at lunch or in the commute to read and to unwind.
Their life choices are not tied to monetary issues.
6. Leaders don’t take life too seriously
Leaders have huge responsibilities.
Paradoxically, they don’t take life too seriously.
Leaders learn to laugh at themselves and their circumstances.
They relax when they have to, and don’t succumb to negative emotions and behaviors.
For them, being positive is a state of mind but most importantly it’s a choice.
7. Leaders walk in their purpose
Leaders live life from the inside out: they know that how they think will demonstrate itself.
Therefore, Every little thing that they do had purpose.
They stick to their system of values and live in alignment with their purpose.
They have clear defined values and a personal mission statement that they live by.
8. Leaders are present
Leaders consider everyday to be a new day.
They don’t let life rule them, they stay present and don’t look back at the past failures.
9. Leaders are forgiving
They do not hold on to past hurts, memories and to people who degrade them.
10. Leaders are authentic
They are committed to grow.
They don’t want to live someone else’s life.
They don’t want to be surrounded by people they don’t like or respect.
11. Leaders are people persons
They enjoy alone time.
They surround themselves with people who push them to grow, to be better and to do better.
12. Leaders are curious
Leaders get out of their comfort zone.
They seek to know more and to upgrade their mindset.
Last Words Of Advice!
We all have an idea of the person we want to become in life.
Don’t wait to have everything 100% in place to behave like your ideal self.
Remember, it’s your life and you create your own life experiences.
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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13 Leadership Books Every Up&Coming Leader Should Read To Achieve Success
There comes a time when leaders feel stuck in a rut, unable to solve problems or constantly being blindsided by events.
That is because they lack wisdom and character, they don’t have the appropriate knowledge of themselves and of the situation.
Books provide valuable information for leaders to grow and to improve themselves.
Reading has to play an important part in leadership.
The following books will help you improve your self-awareness, develop your character, build your vision and your purpose.
1. The Alchemist
Author: Paulo Coelho
Ratings: 4.5/5
The Alchemist outlines the journey of a leader.
It teaches us to be ourselves and to follows our heart and gut.
It reminds us that failure always brings us closer to our success and that all we need is already within us.
2. The Four Agreements
Author: Don Miguel Ruiz
Ratings: 4.5/5
The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz gathers four “agreements” to live by to ensure a better lifestyle, a deeper understanding of life, a life in the moment.
He encourages us to be impeccable with our words, to not take anything personally, to not making assumptions and to do our best.
3. Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean
Author: Kim Scott
Ratings 3/5
In Radical Candor: How to Get What You Want by Saying What You Mean, Kim Scott reveals ways to be truthful, to develop candid relationships.
Being truthful without being a bully is difficult. Candor comes with risks but it will determine your level of success in the long run.
4. Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges
Author: Amy Cuddy
Ratings: 3.5/5
Presence: Bringing Your Boldest Self to Your Biggest Challenges, Amy Cuddy gives advice on managing nonverbal cues to induce Presence, identifying your best authentic self, nurturing your boldest self, and creating personal power.
It is useful for leaders who want to get in touch with their best self.
5. H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle.
Author: Brad Lomenick
Ratings: 4/5
H3 Leadership: Be Humble. Stay Hungry. Always Hustle., Brad Lomenick draws conclusions from his personal leadership style and allies spirituality with leadership.
He shares various tips on being a better leader. He also urges us to define who we are, to identify where you are going and how you will get there.
6. Principles: Life and Work
Author: Ray Dalio
Ratings: 3/5
Dalio shares many principles to navigate life and work.
Ray Dalio encourages us to stay open-minded, to find and speak truth in order to live a healthier lifestyle, to meet our goals and to handle setbacks.
7. Tribes: We need you to lead us
Author: Seth Godin
Ratings: 3/5
In Tribes: We need you to lead us, Seth Godin declares that everybody wants and needs to belong to a tribe.
He also demonstrates how challenging the status quo is a simple way to create your own tribe, to build your fellowship, to define your leadership without forcing people.
8. No One Understands You and What To Do About It
Author: Heidi Grant Halvorson
Ratings: 4/5
In No One Understands You and What To Do About It, Heidi Grant Halvorson explores the prominent reasons why we are often misunderstood.
She also gives useful advice on how to clean up our reputation, to clarify a difficult situation.
9. What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful
Author: Marshall Goldsmith
Ratings: 4/5
In What Got You Here Won’t Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful, Marshall Goldsmith helps you identify all the 21 bad behaviors that are currently holding you back from success.
He also provides different solutions so you develop your character and be your best self at work.
10. Get Out of Your Own Way: Overcoming Self-Defeating Behavior
Author: Mark Goulston, Philip Goldberg
Ratings 3/5
Mark Goulston and Philip Goldberg list all the common self-defeating habits that we have acquired in life and have brought to work.
In order to achieve success, they show us how to get out our own way, how to stop self-sabotaging, how and what to change.
11. Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less
Author: Greg Mckeown
Ratings: 4/5
Essentialism is a thought process that drives success, that improves your decisions making and time management skills.
In Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit Of Less, Greg Mckeown replaces the false assumptions that we can do it all, that being busy means being productive, that we must accept every single opportunity that comes our way.
12. Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us
Author: Daniel H. Pink
Ratings: 4/5
In Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel H. Pink shows us that people are not motivated by common external factors such as money or fame.
Daniel H. Pink reveals that people’s behaviors are mostly driven by purpose, passion, autonomy, a need for self-improvement and for self-imposed goals.
Leaders can use that innate drive to increase productivity, improve performance and build stronger teams.
13. Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Author: Angela Duckworth
Ratings 3/5
In Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, Duckworth defines Grit as a combination of resilience, determination, purpose and passion.
According to Angela Duckworth, anyone can acquire grit. Furthermore, people with grit are more successful than people who are talented but who don’t put in work.
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Quote Of The Week #97
8 Ways Great Leaders Deal With Disappointment
Recently, I have made solid plans around an opportunity that didn’t turn out. Thou I didn’t care much about the opportunity, I was frustrated that the plans that I carefully hatched fell through.
In order to find out why the opportunity fell off, I had a conversation with a toxic individual who spewed lies and venom and with whom I happened to get out of character.
Because I lost my plans for the future and gave away my personal power, I was deeply disappointed in myself and in the circumstances.
If you are a trailblazing leader, are goal-oriented or enjoy making plans for the future, these moments happen often and you will face a lot of disappointments in your life.
That is why, you simply have to learn to cope with it.
Wondering how leaders overcome disappointment in life?
The importance of disappointments
Disappointment is defined as feelings of sadness or displeasure caused by feelings of unfulfilled hope and failed expectations.
Sometimes, an opportunity that we wished for just doesn’t turn out; A person we are hoping for doesn’t show up or act right.
However, life never goes according to plans. Eventually, you will make new plans, you will realize that not every opportunity is a good opportunity and not everyone is good for you.
Feelings of disappointment are hard to get rid off at first but are ephemeral. Those feelings will go away with time.
Once you have overcome these feelings, you will finally understand who you truly are, you can grow as a person, become a stronger person, and build up your character.
How to overcome disappointment?
1. Accept your emotions
Disappointment is part of life and everyone will experience it at some point in life.
Disappointment can trigger a vast array of emotions that you cannot run away from or cover up.
It becomes critical to acknowledge your feelings and find out what exactly triggered it.
Refusing to analyze, confront and discipline your emotions can cause long-term damage on your health.
2. Forgive yourself
Learning to forgive yourself is the hardest part of dealing with disappointment because we are grasping our errors and what we “should” have done instead.
You are only human. You have made mistakes and you will probably make some more.
So, be compassionate with yourself, avoid shifting blame and take care of yourself. Eat well, sleep well and exercise.
3. Reframe your mindset
Now, that you have dealt with your raw emotions, it is time to restructure your mindset, improve on yourself, analyze your situation and mentally distance yourself from your past expectations.
This is the moment when you get comfortable with feeling uncomfortable, when you accept disappointment as a part of life and as a challenge, when you use it to improve yourself and to change the way you have been doing things.
While you are reframing your mindset:
- Monitor your self-talk.
- Don’t expect to be constantly disappointed because you attract what you think.
- Practice self control to make better decisions, to nurture healthy thoughts because you are responsible for yourself.
4. Shift your focus
Now that you have reframed your mind, you have to trust that positivity can result from a negative situation and focus on turning your negative situation into a positive one.
The best way to keep moving forward and to making the best out of any situation is to stay busy, positive, focused and on purpose, to focus on your strengths and on who you want to be.
You can also find out what you could have done differently and make your goals more achievable.
5. Stay present
Your disappointment happened in the past and it’s time to move on.
There is no sense in replaying a situation in your mind over and over again.
It becomes detrimental to your health to be present and be grateful for what you currently have.
If you cannot remain in the present and keep ruminating, it is best to quickly analyze your feelings until you get closure.
6. Surround yourself with positive people
Disappointment can turn into a burden that can be too heavy for one person.
It can be helpful to share your disappointment with people you trust and who care about you.
As a general notice:
- Be careful who you surround yourself with.
- Stay away from people who constantly disappoint you or who hurt you on purpose.
7. Let go control
In life, you must always remember that you cannot control everything that happens to you or around you.
Therefore,
- Don’t worry about the circumstances outside your control. It won’t change anything.
- Trust that life has a better plan and solution for you.
- Remember that there are many more opportunities out there.
- Don’t get too attached to your plans and expectations.
- Expect setbacks in life.
8. Grow!
Remember that life is a journey and that every failure brings you closer to your success.
We can learn something from every life experience, even from our disappointments.
Last Words Of Advice!
No matter the situation, always maintain your personal power.
There is no need to always throw yourself a pity party.
Once you have given yourself time to heal and when you get over your feelings of disappointment, you must think about what you could have done differently and implement the new solution the next time you face a similar situation.
Now that you know better, do better!
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.
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Quote Of The Week #95
Quote Of The Week #94
The Importance Of Risk Taking In Leadership
All leaders have a clear vision for their lives.
They are willing to go through tough waters to achieve their vision.
However, they know that the greater their vision, the greater the focus needed, the greater the risks taken, and hopefully, the greater the reward.
Wondering how to take risks and step out your comfort zone?
Taking risks means stepping outside of your comfort zone.
Furthermore, risk taking is an inherent human trait and plays a major part in the life of leaders.
Risk taking may depend on the leader’s age, generation and financial background.
Risk taking is contagious. When your team sees you initiating risks and stepping out of your comfort zone, they ble will feel more comfortable doing the same.
For the past few years, risk taking has been treated like a disease.
Nowadays, taking risks is valued because it provides opportunities even though the consequences can be disastrous.
I believe that the old saying “with high risks come high rewards” is still defensible.
Taking risks is not reckless as long as they are calculated.
Why should leaders take risks?
Some people try to avoid risks and others fearlessly walk straight into it.
However, leaders are willing and obligated to take risks.
The key rewards of risk taking as a leader include longevity, meaningful experiences, increased finance, and a more motivated, loyal and trustworthy team.
People don’t take risks simply because of fear. They are generally afraid of failure, of success, of being vulnerable, being wrong, or admitting their errors and limits.
How to take calculated risks?
Risk taking can be an effective leadership strategy. To take calculated risks:
- Define clear goals and a vision.
- Gather information to estimate your risks. Do your research to unveil potential obstacles and give yourself time to find a solution.
- Measure your resources and the costs of your actions.
- Take a moment to evaluate the negative and the positive outcomes of your decisions. Study the pros and the cons to make the right decisions.
- Do something that scares you everyday. Get out your routine and try new activities to uncover your limits and who you truly are.
- Be aware of your own abilities and surround yourself with people with complementary skills.
- Learn to trust yourself and your decisions. It is important to listen to your gut, to distinguish your intuition from your emotions, to avoid overthinking or over-analyzing your decisions.
- Understand that you are your only limit and that you set your goals.
- Increase your emotional intelligence. Don’t let your fears make decisions for you. What ifs will stop you from taking chances.
- Learn from your past failures.
- Practice taking risks and prepare yourself for rejection. Rejection is not as bad as it seems and usually doesn’t last as long as regret. Regretting a moment or a situation is definitely worse than being rejected.
- Avoid spreading your self thin, examine opportunities that come your way, and learn to say no to opportunities that seem too good to be true.
- Test your ideas to a wise sounding board that you trust and that can be candid with you.
- Be reactive. Be on the lookout for possible breakthroughs or setbacks, and be ready to correct mistakes.
- Embrace change and always expect the unexpected.
- Don’t try to be perfect. In case of failure from risk-taking, practice forgiveness. and failing forward.
- Don’t make assumptions and keep learning.
- Become resilient.
Last Words Of Advice!
In life as in work, risk is inevitable just like failure is. Remember:
- Fortune favors the bold.
- The risk is always worth being taken and can be life-changing.
- Don’t be too overconfident or completely eradicate fear in order to properly estimate risks.
- Recognizing the positive outcomes of your risk taking will create momentum and gain in confidence so you can do it again.
Let me know when was the last time you have taken risks and what was your reward?
Hope that I’ve helped you get it together on your way to leadership!
Don’t forget to like, share and leave a comment below.