If your character is not strengthening, your capacity is weakening. We need to check our leadership for leaks. ~Sheila Heen
It’s summer time! That should mean it’s time to fire up the grill and enjoy some outdoor cooking. Well, that’s exactly what I’ve tried to do for the past several weekends, but with no success. My grill isn’t allowing gas to get to the burner, causing much chagrin and frustration. It’s a small grill, really a very simple appliance, and I’ve certainly invested time checking for leaks and using the process of elimination to determine what’s wrong.
Likewise, our leadership can also use some intentional effort looking for leaks. It sneaks up on us, until it gets to a point where the organization is no longer working well, or maybe not working at all.
There are 5 C’s to expand our leadership capacity and each of these five also provide the opportunity to look for leaks. I’ve noticed a number of authors refer to these 5 C’s, so I’m not quite sure whom to give credit to, but since I first discovered them in a quote from Sheila Heen, I’ll give her the credit.
5 C’s to expand your leadership capacity and to check for leadership leaks!
- Build your Confidence.
Signs of a leak: looking for scapegoats, not owning your work, putting yourself down.
How to fix the leak: one simple way to build your confidence is staring a WWW journal. No, that’s not a world wide web journal, it’s a “what went well” journal. At the end of every day, list at least three things that went well. Focus on the positive and you will begin to build your confidence.
- Expand your Connections/relationships.
Signs of a leak: it’s been more than a month since you asked someone you didn’t know well to coffee or lunch.
How to fix the leak: start putting lunch and coffee appointments on your calendar and then fill in the “with whom” part a week or two before the appointment. Seeing that reoccurring appointment on your calendar will encourage you to find someone new to connect with.
- Improve your Competence.
Signs of a leak: it’s been more than a year since you’ve engaged in some type of learning experience.
How to fix the leak: register for a seminar, take a class, hire a coach, but do something, at least every year, to continue to improve your competence. None of us are ever fully competent.
- Strengthen your Character.
Signs of a leak: you recently fudged the truth a little to protect your own image, you took the credit for something that really should have gone to someone else, you handled a situation in a way that you wouldn’t want to appear on social media.
How to fix the leak: if you aren’t sure if you’re being honest with yourself, then find an accountability partner. This could be a friend, a mentor, a coach, someone who will hold you accountable to the character you want to exemplify.
- Increase your Commitment.
Signs of a leak: when a situation became difficult you chose to back away, or you can make a list of the projects you’ve started that aren’t finished.
How to fix the leak: if possible, re-engage in the situation you backed away from and commit to seeing it through. Or, select one of the projects you started and identify a completion date and stick to it until it’s done.