I’ve developed a set of guiding principles I’ve come to think of as my leadership mantras. They’re simple truths I return to again and again, and that I find almost magically helpful because they remind me what’s important, keep me focused and forging ahead. Here are a few leadership mantras I’ve developed over the years that have served me well.
Nobody has all the answers
When I first assumed a leadership role, I thought I had to have all the answers. I’ve since learned that it was a mistake to think I had to know everything or worse, pretend that I did. Nobody has all the answers, especially in today’s business climate, nor does anybody expect you to have them. Honesty and authenticity are the qualities people want most in a leader. If you act as if you know everything, you’ll just alienate those whose help you need to find out what the answers are. Far better to admit what you don’t know and help your team come up with a plan to fill in the blanks.
Sometimes you just have to make it up as you go along
In leadership, as in life, when we experience disappointment or failure, it’s tempting to look at others who seem to have it all figured out and assume we’re falling short in some way. That’s especially true in an era of social media when everyone’s busily presenting a curated version of their life online. So, whenever I’m feeling uncertain in leadership or life, I find it helpful to remember that despite how others may appear, we’re all a bit of a mess at times. When those times happen, you have to make it up as you go along, just like everybody else.
It’s really not that complicated
People think it’s really hard to be a leader, and there’s no question that sometimes it is really hard. But sometimes people make the job a lot harder than it has to be. So much about being a successful leader, I’ve found, comes down to using your common sense. For instance, if you give people a chance to participate in the decision-making process, it stands to reason that they’ll feel their voices are being heard and will be more inclined to rally behind you and produce better results.
Likewise, if you make a conscious effort to treat people as individuals who have meaningful lives outside of the office and as how you would want to be treated, as opposed to worker bees whose sole purpose in life is to meet your expectations, you’ll make them feel valued as human beings, and they’ll be much more likely to go the extra mile for you. It’s really not that complicated.