Being “street smart” is an important part of being a leader. What follows are five areas you can develop to improve your innovation and performance as a leader.
Remember, as a people leader we do not do anything that will show a lack of humility, engender disrespect, or show a lack of trust:
1) Be Aware
– Trust your intuition
– Develop perceptiveness and the ability to anticipate
– Size up people quickly and accurately
– Take a helicopter view of situations
2) Have Confidence
– Be a continual learner
– Show confidence but don’t become insolent or arrogant
– Have a steadfast confidence in your ability
3) Be a Healthy Skeptic
– Don’t believe everything you see and hear
– Be hard to take advantage of
– Stay on guard…check out generalizations
– Give people the time and rope to either hang themselves or prove
their integrity and sincerity
4) Show Resourcefulness
– Think quickly on your feet
– Be persistent and consistent
– Be prepared and flexible
– Create relationships with experts & contacts
5) Be a Risk Taker
– Take risks but don’t bet the farm
– Minimize any possible down side
– Cut your losses and get out quickly if proven wrong
– Don’t fear failure…learn by your mistakes
You need to ensure that your newly acquired “street smarts” will not be perceived as arrogance.
A lot of the above thinking and actions are done internally, so think very carefully in an empathetic fashion before taking any actions that could be misconstrued.
Email Ken – Ken@Engage4Results.com – for a free chapter on WOWing the customer from his Award Winning Book, “The People Pill”.
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