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Do You Really Know Your Own Value
Leaders Must Know Their Own Value
By Dr. Paul L. Gerhardt, PhD
The great philosopher Socrates stated one of his most famous quotes during his trial. He said, “The unexamined life is not worth living”. Socrates believed that without reflecting on one’s own life and actions it is impossible to move upwards; an aspiring leader should think along similar lines. In order to be a great leader, a person should clearly know their own strengths, beliefs, goals and personality. In fine, a leader must know their value to improve and move forward.
Knowing one’s own strength is the first step to success. A good leader will know their own capabilities and limitations in order to make planned and calculated decisions. By using the information on the actions that they excel at, a good leader will know when to accept a challenge and when something will be beyond their capacity; thus they will know when to make the right decision. By knowing their own strengths, by default a leader can also identify their shortcomings. A knowledgeable leader will then create his team accordingly so that his own weaknesses are covered by others.
Everyone has issues, actions, objects they feel fear of. Fear is not something to feel ashamed about, because a man who fears nothing is merely very stupid. A leader’s job is to identify their own fears and slowly, gradually come to turns with them. For example, if a person is wary of change and hates sudden plans and disruption, then maybe they should step out of their own comfort zone and purposefully begin doing things to bring change into their lives. Incorporating a portion of the day to the gym, going on a surprise visit to their family’s house, the joy of all of these things will eventually drive out the effects of fear in their lives. And when fear is decreased the value of a person automatically increases.
A good leader also needs to have a clearly defined set of values. They need to know where they stand on some issues, for example. someone in the scientific field may need to know whether they are for or against the subject of cloning mammals. The principles of a leader also define the principles of the company and will shape the values of his or her employees as well. A leader needs to ask himself/herself these questions before he/she can set an example for others.
By knowing their own value, a leader can judge how effective their efforts on directing the team are. He or she can then ask themselves where things are not going as they should be and then work to improve upon that. Every leader has at least one idol, someone who they follow and aspire to be. An aspiring leader can think upon their own value and plan how to increase it to exceed that of their idol.
Where we focus our attention is where we get our results. So, without clear vision of where you want to be, do, and be remembered as, then you probably are not as happy as you could be.
Having a good understanding of one’s own worth is crucial to achieving success; only then will a leader be able to know their values and capabilities and work hard to improve them and be fulfilled by them.
Everything is connected with time. We all have the same amount of time each day. Focus on what you want and create a life and career you truly love!
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Dr. Paul Gerhardt is a tenured professor of management. He is a diversity and well-respected and trusted leadership trainer who helps organizations get amazing returns on investment. Dr. Gerhardt is the author of several publications available on Amazon.com, including Diversity at Work, The Diversity King; Leadership Lucy and the new upcoming Leadership Handbook. Consider inviting Dr. Paul Gerhardt to do customized leadership or diversity training at your organization. Most organizations find that diversity and leadership training by the right trainer yields a significant instant return on investment. You can get your FREE COPY of the Leadership Handbook by clicking this link: http://bit.ly/LeadershipHandbook
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