My first post of 2021 highlighted the New Year’s theme of revelation, and shared three leadership rituals: increasing your focus on empathy, honing in on optimism against the odds, and practicing moments of stillness. Now let’s explore three additional rituals based around developing courage, curiosity, and resilience.
Cultivating the Courage to Be Yourself
We’ve all been inspired by stories of courageous people who have changed the world. Likewise, know that your talents and actions of courage and strength influence your world and those around you. One important life lesson of mine was that it takes courage to show up and embrace who you are. I encourage you to start this process as soon as possible—don’t wait half a decade to become strongly connected to what you value, or wait for permission to speak up and ask for things you want and need. Resist the urge to seek validation from others. Instead, recognize and believe that you are enough. Know and tap into your strengths and unique perspective, and be an active participant in what matters to you.
Having courage is also about taking calculated and intelligent risks to pursue the greater good—particularly in an environment where you may run the risk of criticism, rejection, and even sabotage. What often gets in the way of the ability to tap into courage is fear. Fear holds back the best ideas and stymies positive forward movement. To tap into your courage, identify and understand your fears in relation to your vulnerabilities, and then move beyond them to enhance your skills, growth, visibility, differentiation, and relationships.
When you’re ready to stretch in this area, ask yourself these questions:
- What would I do if fear was not holding me back?
- Where and with whom do I struggle to be honest, opting to instead hide behind embellishments?
- In what parts of my life am I not asking for what I want or need?
Navigate an Uncertain Future with Curiosity
Given the changes that are happening globally, curiosity is one of the most valuable assets we have for navigating the road ahead. Curiosity is about creating the space to ponder possibilities, rather than relying on old habits or outdated ways of thinking. In 2021, leaders will be called on to move beyond their comfort zones, challenge longstanding paradigms, and point out flawed ideas. In many ways, regardless of industry, we are all being tasked with adapting new habits, rethinking how we do our jobs, and reimagining how to lead others.
Instead of making quick judgments about a person or situation if you are in the middle of a conflict, I invite you to tap into your curiosity, be open to different opinions, avoid taking shortcuts, and expand your lens to reveal a more complete view versus a narrow perspective. Become familiar with the unfamiliar by diversifying your thought partners—the people you look up to for advice and answers. Great leaders are always curious and intentional about broadening their view, realizing they cannot rely only on their own thinking to navigate the rapidly evolving environment we now live in.
Questions to ask yourself to explore additional growth in this area:
- How can I begin to respectfully challenge the status quo?
- Which colleagues and teammates can I engage with to promote new ideas?
- What activities can I pursue to improve my creativity and innovative thinking?
Moving Beyond Fear to Tap Into Resilience
Resilience has allowed me to take important risks in my life, such as leaving corporate America to start my own company, moving to a different part of the country while knowing only a few people there, and becoming a speaker and writer, aspects of my role for which I lacked formal training. In part, I could take these leaps of faith because I believed in myself and my intuition, which was nudging me to make these moves. Over time it became easier to take these risks, and I gained confidence by realizing that the risks I took generally turned out well or at least led to learning.
Some of my best advice for tapping into resilience is to move beyond the fear you may feel and do it anyway. What creates fear is relying on old thinking patterns that dominate your emotions, so that you avoid taking risks. Too much time spent thinking in one direction can morph into obsessive rumination—a repeating cycle of regret and fear of the future.
To move from rumination to positive action, it’s important to get out of your comfort zone: trust your intuition and integrate it with your knowledge. Be open to exploring new and different insights about the possibilities around you. Identify what you are passionate or care about, and remind yourself of your goal that supports your passion by using a vision board, quotes, or working with a coach/mentor.
To break the cycle of self-limiting beliefs and banish any repetitive mental narrative, try setting a positive intention early in the day such as: “I will not engage in toxic arguments—whether with family, colleagues, or on social media—and I will let go of the need to change someone’s mind.” If you become overloaded with information and lose your ability to stay centered, then state a new intention, which is to give yourself permission to prioritize what you read, so you can temper your desire to stay informed.
Here are some questions for tapping into your resilience factor:
- What are my core values? Where do they currently show up in my life, and where are there disconnects?
- How can I encourage myself to step out of my comfort zone and explore new environments and situations?
- What activities that currently absorb my time no longer provide value to me?
- What are my top goals/priorities (limit to 3), and what are my intentions and actions for each?
Do you have a leadership ritual that you’re planning to leverage in 2021? I’d love to hear about what’s working and not working on your teams. Contact me at info@shambaughleadership.com or link to learn more about SHAMBAUGH’s offerings on Supporting Leadership Development Needs as well as Program Solutions for Accelerating the Development and Advancement of Women Leaders and Executive Coaching.
Rebecca Shambaugh is President of SHAMBAUGH Leadership, and Founder of Women in Leadership and Learning. Rebecca is a contributing writer to Harvard Business Review, the HuffPost, and a TEDx speaker. Rebecca has been featured on CNBC, Forbes, Training Magazine, and US News and World Report. She is author of the best-selling booksIt’s Not a Glass Ceiling, It’s a Sticky Floor andMake Room for Her: Why Companies Need an Integrated Leadership Model to Achieve Extraordinary Results.
Find out more about us at: www.shambaughleadership.com