We are always asked by people what is it that really good leaders do.
Well, there are so many different aspects that we could talk about. In our book we describe both leadership challenges and what really good leaders do, and this excerpt points out one very important aspect :
It’s difficult, even close to impossible, to truly view yourself from the outside, to see the impact of your behaviours. Ask for feedback from the relevant people around you, preferably those that see you often enough to be able to give you a fair picture. And accept the feedback gracefully, even if you get to hear something you didn’t want to hear. Otherwise people will not be so forthcoming with feedback next time around. Feedback allows for a person to “step out” and take a more objective look at themselves. Consider the benefits of knowing your own impact on the people and world around you. Without it, you just don’t know how you’re doing and may be continuing to do things that just don’t work. And maybe more importantly, you don’t know when you are doing something really well and should keep doing it! It’s easy for us all to have “blind spots”.
“The Team Formula” is released 4th March 2013.
Mandy Flint, co-author of “The Team Formula”
