Post by Leslie on Apr 28, 2021 15:08:53 GMT
What struck you most about the readings and video?
I was struck by how the principle of “leadership edge” the stretching of self and stretching your team actually impacts the team in a positive way. I believed the stretch would break us, but it's just the opposite, the stretch releases you to soar. The discussion of the leadership habits also triggered for me the value of communicating my long-term vision and how that might spark the engagement of others. I may have missed the value add found in verbalizing the thoughts, plans and resets that go on in my mind to my team leading to missed opportunities for sharing the vision and gaining feedback, support, and buy-in.
The comfort zone article was filled with many great take-aways that caused me to examine my thoughts about success and failure. The suggestion that a leader should not underestimate the value of failing, because what failure and reflection teaches you is how to demystify an issue and learn from it is something I had not considered. I liked the idea of using a pre-mortem process to honestly list all the potential places your plan could go wrong (I exhaust myself sometimes with worry about the what-if’s) and rarely enjoy the experience or benefit from the totality of the experience.
My aha moment #1 was shifting the focus off the “the big finish” to seeing the journey to that “big finish” as the process that I must embrace to fully gain practical knowledge from an experience. Aha moment #2 was the idea that it is necessary to accept you may not master a thing (that there will be things) that will always be difficult for me. And, embracing that is liberating.
Were there things with which you disagreed?
Not so much disagreed, more like I just never thought about it in that way – my interpretation of how failure tarnishes you and the premise of the article that early failure in a leader’s career can actually be a catalyst for grow and change. I have always seen failure/failing to achieve a target that you have identified as ending your chances of being taken seriously when in fact it’s how you act the next time -what you learn from that experience, what you change based on that experience that is the true test of your mettle.
What do you want to get out of your STRETCH ASSIGNMENT?
I want to reign in my internal fear around being seen as a failure or fake or as leader who just got lucky. In this moment, I am facing that playing only to my strengths, may have caused me to miss the opportunity to really soar, grow and learn because I missed the need to reset or change and therefore, I miss the opportunity to see the value in the failure as a reflection of what I potentially have to learn. I want to give myself fair credit for past accomplishments and grow beyond what I thought was possible. I wonder if I may have limited my opportunities by failing to put myself out there. I am learning that being a successful leader is the sum total of the times I nailed it, along with a true postmortem about the times I didn’t.
Reflecting back on your 360 results, your current leadership skills and areas where you need to learn and grow, what kind of stretch assignment will serve you best?
I think one that forces me to develop strategies that help me build into my process a reliance on others. Creating that sense of the need to rely on others exposes a point of vulnerability in me. It causes me to confront all of my “what if this” (fill in the blank) happens. It also forces me to get out of my own head and be able to convey clearly what I am thinking and feeling, which opens the door for more authentic dialogue with my team about their needs.
The journey to build a spirit of team cohesion and trust will stretch me. I, personally am always willing to go the extra ten miles to accomplish whatever needs to get done, I want to be able to develop a commitment from my team that establishes each of us would be willing to go that extra ten miles because the outcome matters to all of us. I also need to develop my plan of action for team members who will not buy into that collaborative mindset. What does it mean to me, the team, that individual? The stretch assignment will instigate a shift for me because it will cause me to see that all the planning I do to avoid the failure can be utilized in the development of our team by identifying and developing strengths, talents and abilities in others.
I was struck by how the principle of “leadership edge” the stretching of self and stretching your team actually impacts the team in a positive way. I believed the stretch would break us, but it's just the opposite, the stretch releases you to soar. The discussion of the leadership habits also triggered for me the value of communicating my long-term vision and how that might spark the engagement of others. I may have missed the value add found in verbalizing the thoughts, plans and resets that go on in my mind to my team leading to missed opportunities for sharing the vision and gaining feedback, support, and buy-in.
The comfort zone article was filled with many great take-aways that caused me to examine my thoughts about success and failure. The suggestion that a leader should not underestimate the value of failing, because what failure and reflection teaches you is how to demystify an issue and learn from it is something I had not considered. I liked the idea of using a pre-mortem process to honestly list all the potential places your plan could go wrong (I exhaust myself sometimes with worry about the what-if’s) and rarely enjoy the experience or benefit from the totality of the experience.
My aha moment #1 was shifting the focus off the “the big finish” to seeing the journey to that “big finish” as the process that I must embrace to fully gain practical knowledge from an experience. Aha moment #2 was the idea that it is necessary to accept you may not master a thing (that there will be things) that will always be difficult for me. And, embracing that is liberating.
Were there things with which you disagreed?
Not so much disagreed, more like I just never thought about it in that way – my interpretation of how failure tarnishes you and the premise of the article that early failure in a leader’s career can actually be a catalyst for grow and change. I have always seen failure/failing to achieve a target that you have identified as ending your chances of being taken seriously when in fact it’s how you act the next time -what you learn from that experience, what you change based on that experience that is the true test of your mettle.
What do you want to get out of your STRETCH ASSIGNMENT?
I want to reign in my internal fear around being seen as a failure or fake or as leader who just got lucky. In this moment, I am facing that playing only to my strengths, may have caused me to miss the opportunity to really soar, grow and learn because I missed the need to reset or change and therefore, I miss the opportunity to see the value in the failure as a reflection of what I potentially have to learn. I want to give myself fair credit for past accomplishments and grow beyond what I thought was possible. I wonder if I may have limited my opportunities by failing to put myself out there. I am learning that being a successful leader is the sum total of the times I nailed it, along with a true postmortem about the times I didn’t.
Reflecting back on your 360 results, your current leadership skills and areas where you need to learn and grow, what kind of stretch assignment will serve you best?
I think one that forces me to develop strategies that help me build into my process a reliance on others. Creating that sense of the need to rely on others exposes a point of vulnerability in me. It causes me to confront all of my “what if this” (fill in the blank) happens. It also forces me to get out of my own head and be able to convey clearly what I am thinking and feeling, which opens the door for more authentic dialogue with my team about their needs.
The journey to build a spirit of team cohesion and trust will stretch me. I, personally am always willing to go the extra ten miles to accomplish whatever needs to get done, I want to be able to develop a commitment from my team that establishes each of us would be willing to go that extra ten miles because the outcome matters to all of us. I also need to develop my plan of action for team members who will not buy into that collaborative mindset. What does it mean to me, the team, that individual? The stretch assignment will instigate a shift for me because it will cause me to see that all the planning I do to avoid the failure can be utilized in the development of our team by identifying and developing strengths, talents and abilities in others.
