Skip to main content

Leading from Within

"For me, leadership is a shared responsibility for creating a better world in which to live and work.  It manifests in our passion to engage others in bringing about purposeful change." Leading From Within - Nancy Huber

Harvard Business Review on the Mind of the Leader

Emotion is not always given its due importance in leadership literature.

This is what the Harvard Business Review  has to say about ‘The mind of the Leader’:

“If you are looking for leaders, how can you identify people who are motivated by the drive to achieve rather than by external rewards? The first sign is a passion for the work itself — such people seek out creative challenges, love to learn and take great pride in a job well done. They also display an unflagging energy to do things better and are forever raising the performance bar.”

Since we can’t all lead, all the time, it is emotion - passion for a particular work - more than intelligence - that can help us find who has the potential for leadership.

Characteristics of the Heart

There are four characteristics which Nancy Huber – responsible for the top quote -  considers to be the foundation of good leadership.    They are not traits which you are either born with or not. Nor are they attributes that you might acquire by learning more about them!

Nancy believes these essential leader characteristics are choices that we make.

She believes exemplary leaders choose to be passionate, authentic, credible, and ethical.
  • Purpose and passion go hand in hand. To be an effective leader, you must first care. When you care deeply, you have the fire inside that will sustain you through difficult times.
  • To be authentic is to be genuine.  We speak from our own to the hearts of others and we are consistent.  This means in our relationships we are genuine and trustworthy.
  • Credibility means you do what you say you will do. It begins with being authentic and is manifested in the actions that you promise and deliver. You are accountable for what you say you will do.
  • Ethical leaders have human worth and dignity at the centre of their value system. They make decisions and take action in accord with these deeply held values and beliefs.

Know who you are!

Being a leader means knowing who you are at the deepest level, choosing to have the right values and acting on those values in your working, as well as your private, life.



Wendy Mason works as a Coach, Consultant and Writer. 

She works with all kinds of people going through many different kinds of personal and career change, particularly those;
  • looking for work
  • looking for promotion or newly promoted
  • moving between Public and Private Sectors
  • facing redundancy
  • moving into retirement
  • wanting to do a mid-life review
You can contact Wendy at wendymason@wisewolfconsulting.com  or ring ++44 (0)2084610114

Share


Related articles
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Empathy has Many Sides - Thinking About How We Connect

Empathy has Many Sides - Thinking About How We Connect Empathy is a word we hear all the time. But have you ever stopped to think what it really means?  Empathy is a lot more than, and different from, just feeling sorry for someone. It's an ability to step outside your own perspective and experience. It is being able to understand something about someone else's point of view.  The thoughts and feelings of that other person begin to feel real for you two. But empathy can come in different forms. There are different types of empathy. Each ond plays a unique role in how we connect with others. Here's a look at three key types Cognitive Empathy: This is the mental understanding of another person's situation. It's like putting yourself in their shoes and figuring out what they might be thinking. Imagine seeing a friend cry after losing someone. Cognitive empathy allows you to recognize they're feeling sad because they lost that person. Emotional Empathy: This is th
Post a Comment
Read more

Welcome to Wisewolf Life Coaching, Career Coaching and Business Coaching

Contact Wendy to arrange your first FREE  one hour coaching session phone now at  07867681439 or email  wendy@wisewolfcoaching.com  or comment below with your email address Welcome to Wisewolf Coaching. Wendy Mason Smith is a Life, Career and Business Coach and she can help you. Below you can find some more information about Wendy and some useful and interesting posts to help you and your personal development. Meet Wendy I can help you work out your best way forward. We will work together to find your best options and I will help you make plans for a better life. I can help with your career, your business or with your life outside work.  Are you looking for work or career development. Do you want to start a business. Perhaps you want to be better at managing stress, your own or other people's? May be you need help with relationships. Feel more confident and more positive about your life?  I am a qualified and experienced coach - I've been coaching for the last ten years. I am t
Post a Comment
Read more

Feeling down? Here's what to do

Feeling down? Here's what to do Feeling down! We all feel like that sometimes. It is a normal part of life.  All kinds of things can lead feeling down. For example: stress, disappointment, loss, or loneliness. And sometimes we can feel blue without knowing why. Although feeling down is normal, there are ways to cope with it in a healthy way. Feeling down? Here are some tips: Acknowledge your feelings. It's okay to feel down. Don't try to suppress your emotions or pretend you're happy, when you're not. Allow yourself to feel what you're feeling. But don't dwell on it or feel bad about what you feel It helps to talk to someone you trust. Talking about your feelings can help you to understand them and process them. Talk to a friend, family member, a priest, if you have one, or a life coach like me. Talk to anyone else you feel comfortable with and trust. Doing something you enjoy can help. This can be anything from reading a book or practicing a craft to watchi
Post a Comment
Read more