By Vivek Sharma
'Leaders breed leaders’
I first heard this at the beginning of my managerial career from my leader/coach, whose one purpose was to develop world class leaders. He focused strongly on self-learning. Few years later, I made a shift into one of the biggest organisations in the world and discovered that large organisations have very different methodologies in place to develop their leaders.
Large organisations have many resources at their discretion; they engage external coaches to develop leaders within their own business. This is effective when you are teaching new leaders the art of managing people and business. However, it seldom teaches them the art of developing great leaders of their own. When these leaders go out on their own, and have very limited resources, they then face the real challenge of building an effective team of leaders on their own.
I believe that one of the most important roles of a leader is to be able to coach their team members. Coaches hold influential positions within organisations and teams. Coaches help you to balance the key areas of your life in order to become an effective leader. Tony Robbins has identified these areas well, in his Pyramid of Mastery. Great coaches have mastered the art of asking the right questions, offering an opportunity to help those around them reflect and self-analyse. This is what enables personal growth.
Whilst some leaders have a clear role to play within an organisation, we all have similar roles to play in our own lives - for ourselves and our families. Whilst we may not have access to all the same resources, we do have the ability to reflect and self-analyse - I believe that is where journaling helps.
Journaling is not only capturing life’s cherished moments - photos, travel, and memories. It goes far beyond this. It means reflecting on one of the key aspects of your life and finding opportunities to improve. Successful leaders are not only visionary but also emotionally intelligent people who energise people around them. Journaling for leadership means reflecting on your emotions and actions, expressing gratitude, further understanding your mind-set behind your actions, and becoming a better leader for future.
Journaling is your life-coach, and there will be unanswered questions even once you have finished writing. This provides you with an opportunity to find the answer to those questions and experience personal growth.
It is important to discover those questions, but not necessary to answer them right away. My suggestion is to simply capture them, think about them, and answer them in your own time. These questions are for those moments when you have found the answer, and are ready for further reflection.
Life is full of questions, start answering them now - you'll be surprised what you discover.
###