Is your house built on sand?
Or can your foundations withstand anything?
Too often, leadership advice encourages us to start by looking outward.
“Who inspires you?” is still the most common opening line in leadership development that I experience. And while well-intentioned, this question risks pulling us into someone else’s story, or worse, into someone else’s shadow; we sit their believing that our leadership needs to emulate the style, approach and impact of those who are perceived to be great by society.
When caught in this trap we start to believe that leadership is about becoming the Great Man – the heroic all-knowing, all-seeing hero who has all the answers to the challenges being faced. As I explored in my book The Great Man is Dead, this model is outdated and dangerously misleading. The world we live and work in now is too fast, too complex, and too unpredictable for any one person to lead with certainty alone.
So, if the Great Man is dead, what comes next?
In supporting leaders at all levels and across a wide range of industries I remain convinced that the path to develop your leadership, not just in a work context but also leadership of your life, the answer lies not in focusing outward, but instead through looking within and focusing on strengthening the foundations for your existence. Without doing this the risk is you build a house on sand.
How do you strengthen the foundations for your leadership?
My view is that you start with three simple, yet powerful questions.
1. Who am I?
This is the starting place – your identity. Why? Because until you understand and feel comfortable with who you are, and you learn to live comfortable in your own skin, you will forever be plagued by insecurities which will manifest as imposter syndrome.
To consider the question Who am I? isn’t about crafting a polished persona or aligning with a list of leadership traits. It’s about authentic honesty. It is about considering who you are as the absolute best version of yourself and then being that person more often.
2. Why am I here?
This defines what is important to you – your purpose. Too much of the theory in the world today tries to convince us that we need some grand life purpose. Whilst some do achieve this, I believe that instead of purpose ‘for life’, we should focus on purpose ‘in life’. What this means in practice is being really clear for every moment of our lives what is most important to us and what impact we are seeking to have – this gives us purpose ‘in life’.
When we are clear on what gives us purpose, then we can use that to ensure we maximise our positive impact; we use our definition to direct our energy more mindfully.
3. How will I lead?
This directs your energy – your practice. When I focus on leadership, I am clear that the concept is different to ‘being a leader’. For me being a leader is a role we perform, whereas showing leadership is how we direct our energy to show up as the person we want to be (identity) and directing our energy to that which is most important (purpose).
To answer the question of ‘How will I lead?” is therefore about being clear on how we will direct our precious time and energy each and every day. It is about ensuring that we live and lead with what I call mindful intention; we are constantly mindful about our action and the impact that we are seeking to have.
From sand to rock
Through all the work I do with leaders what I see is that when individuals skip these foundational questions, focusing just on how to ‘be a leader’, they build their leadership on sand. From the outside, it might look fine. The right behaviours. The right language. But without a grounded sense of who they are, why they’re here, and how they lead, the house can’t hold.
Through considering ‘The 3 Questions’® something changes. They become more confident and grounded in how they show leadership. Why? Because it comes from a place where the foundations for who they are, why they’re here, and how they lead are like rock.
Want to know more? Contact Rob@purposefulleader.co