Being “street smart” is an important part of being a leader. What follows are five areas* you can develop to improve your performance as a leader. As with all things we discuss, do not do anything that will show a lack of humility, engender disrespect, or show a lack of trust.
1) Be Aware
i) Trust your intuition
ii) Develop perceptiveness and the ability to anticipate
iii) Size up people quickly and accurately
iv) Take a helicopter view of situations
2) Have Confidence
i) Be a continual learner
ii) Show confidence but don’t become insolent or arrogant
iii) Have a steadfast confidence in your ability
3) Be a Healthy Skeptic
i) Don’t believe everything you see and hear
ii) Be hard to take advantage of
iii) Stay on guard…check out generalizations
iv) Give people the time and rope to either hang themselves or prove their integrity and sincerity
4) Show Resourcefulness
i) Think quickly on your feet
ii) Be persistent and consistent
iii) Be prepared and flexible
iv) Create relationships with experts & contacts
5) Be a Risk Taker
i) Take risks but don’t bet the farm
ii) Minimize any possible down side
iii) Cut your losses and get out quickly if proven wrong
iv) 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.
What do you think? Have any further tips?
Best regards
Ken Wright
Ken@engage4results.com
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