Take away the position, the title, the accolades, the applause and who are you? Do you know who you are? Sure, you know what to say and you know what you want to say… but do you truly believe that deep within?

There is no great CEO, Manager or leader who does not prioritize deep reflection. Personal and professional growth are always a choice, and one that you must make continually, regardless of your schedule.

• Reflect on who you are
• Reflect on your flaws, and make them better
• Reflect on areas of strength and excel at those
• Reflect on who God is – resting in God is the best reflection and peace there is

No leader can get to the top by themselves but no leader can be a great person if they fail to prioritize their true, authentic self.

As a leader, CEO, Manager, many things will stop with you. You are the final decision maker, you determine how things will operate, when and why. But as a leader, there is no one man team, and you cannot operate effectively by yourself. There is no CEO without PEOPLE!

There are some things that will push you to become a better leader, and ultimately manager and lead yourself well as well.

• Always remain humble, and approachable
• Servantship leadership
• Network with other leaders, and agencies through professional forums
• Be an open minded leader and with humility understand that not all of your ideas will work. Others around will have better ideas and they are gifted in those areas to flow ideas and techniques up and forward

lastly, to become a better leader and lead yourself well, read read read! Reading is truly fundamental and if you invest in yourself by reading 4-6 books a year on personal and professional growth, with application and reflection, you will be better than you were last year.

As leader, as a Chief Executive Officer, as a manager, are you leading with your emotions in an unhealthy emotional state? It’s okay to use your emotions but it’s empathy not sympathy.

As a leader, there will be seasons in your life, where those underneath you (subordinates) and those who are your peers will test you. They will try to pull your strings and they want to see if they can get a glimpse of weakness when they are intimidated by you.

Why? it makes them feel better about themselves.

Take a listen as I go over key point #3 in my leadership series!