A while back, I had a conversation with a young man who was interested in applying for his first leadership role. This young soul recounted all of his accomplishments to me: bonuses earned, awards won, and recognition given to him by his organization for his outstanding performance.
As he continued to try and convince me that he was ready to take the next step, I sat back and thought, “Why is he trying to persuade me?”
The Conversation Was Quite One-Sided
As I continued to listen during the conversation, my thoughts turned and I realized that he was not trying to convince me, he was trying to convince himself. Even though he had received rewards and recognition, he knew in his heart of hearts that he was not ready for the role. His peers were being promoted all around him, and this caused him to take on their call as his own.
My role as a coach was not to judge whether he was ready or not, my role was to help him explore his reality so that he could make informed decisions about his own life. After he stopped talking, we ate in silence. A long and very uncomfortable pause ensued, and I said. “You're not ready.” My intention was not to judge him, but rather to shock his ignition and get him thinking.
He immediately became defensive. "What do you mean I am not ready?" he asked. Immediately, he launched into his list of accomplishments again. I let him go on until it seemed he was out of breath. When he finished I said, “You have all the WHAT that you need. You have all of your individual contributions. You have shown your skill and capability. I think you might be missing the HOW.”
“What Do You Mean by the How?”
When he asked me this, I turned to one of my favorite modern-day philosophers, Parker J. Palmer, who wrote, “I now know myself to be a person of weakness and strength, liability and giftedness, darkness and light. I now know that to be whole means to reject none of it, but to embrace all of it.”
My young friend was still trying to embrace all of his strengths as an individual contributor. He was still selling to himself the idea that these attributes were enough for him to lead others. He was also not being completely honest with himself or in his description of his accomplishments. He was grandstanding, and frankly, it made me uncomfortable just listening to it.
So I asked him, “Would you tell me about a time when you worked on a project that did NOT succeed?” Long silence again. I could tell he was stuck.
The thinking in his head must have been like a game of chess, calculating his next best move. He was probably thinking that if he told me about an unsuccessful project then he was admitting to failure and that he would look bad, but if he didn’t tell me anything, then he would look arrogant. I could just see the thoughts rolling around in his head like a pair of dice being shaken. I said, "You see, what Palmer is saying is that you have to know your whole self. We all have strengths and we all have weaknesses. Until you are ready to embrace your weaknesses, I don’t think you are ready to lead. Begin to think about HOW you accomplished your work, then frame your story around that.”
Self-Regard: The Ability to Respect and Accept Yourself
Self-regard essentially involves liking yourself the way you are. This competency ensures the leader has enough self-confidence that others would want to follow them. That their self-worth is balanced with enough empathy that the leader is going to be able to get through good times and bad.
Eleanor Roosevelt is famous for saying, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent." People who have positive self-regard have a real sense of identity and work to overcome feelings of inadequacy or inferiority.
In order to lead others, you must have enough confidence to lead yourself. Then, you must have enough empathy to realize that leadership is not about your identity, but your relationships with your followers that matter. Appreciate your positive qualities, and accept your limitations. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Learn to like yourself. After all, if you don’t, why should they?
Reflection Question:
What value would it provide for you to understand your strengths, and what would it feel like for you to embrace your weaknesses?