5 Step Personal Development Process
Becoming a Leader: Challenge #4–Show up and Follow Through
“80% of success in life is just showing up.”–Woody Allen
We all know that just showing up isn’t enough–and never was. You need to show up and perform once you’re there. I think Thomas Edison’s ratio for success is far more accurate than Woody’s: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
Genius and leadership take work. No matter how inspired you are and how many terrific ideas you have, you must follow through on them (not just “show up”). Following through on commitments is imperative to building trust–and leadership cannot happen without trust.
When you tell somebody that you are going to do something, do it. No excuses.
How many people in your organization just show up? How many don’t follow through? If you want these people to be more accountable, then you must first model that level of accountability yourself.
Becoming a Leader: Talent #4–Stay in Alignment
When a car is out of alignment, it pulls to the right or left–a little bit a first, then usually more and more. The wheels might shimmy. Tires wear unevenly. The vehicle may develop other problems as a result, too, and the driver has to compensate more and more. In short, misalignment makes everything and everyone uncomfortable. And, over time, it can be more dangerous to the car and its driver.
When you depart from your values, you get out of alignment. Lack of alignment takes energy away from pursuing your goals or helping clients pursue their goals. Alignment has a lot to do with focus (which we will cover in this series under the Challenge category). When you and your team are focused on the goal and are true to your values, you are much more productive because your energy is aligned.
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