5 questions to ask yourself if you want to be a good leader

“How old should you be to ensure you are a good leader?” This was an intriguing question asked by one of my coaching clients recently. And the question comes from an over used exercise, that is still referred to by many, so called, leadership development sessions where people are asked to; “Think of a great leader, or people you admire.” This tends to elicit answers which point to individuals who are no longer on the earth or people who are now very old!   No wonder there is a dearth of good leadership around right now, we seem to be looking in the wrong places or are we just too blind to spot it?

Tweet: There is a great leader in all of us and leadership is a innate quality we all have.

We have to learn how to access it, so finding where this is for us, is a good place to start. For me it starts with looking in the mirror and being really honest about what I see.

Tweet: If we don’t really understand how to lead ourselves how can we even begin to do a good job with others, who may or may not be like us?

There are lots of ways to begin your own self awareness journey to the leader inside of you, here are five questions to help you get started;

  1. Think about what motivates you – it is pain or pleasure?
  2. What do you most fear rejection, failure, insecurity or conflict?
  3. What makes time fly for you and what makes it drag slowly by?
  4. How would you describe yourself – logical, empathic, creative or a deliverer?
  5. What do you need from your employer to enable you to be a top performer?

Once you begin to understand YOU,  only then can you open your eyes a little wider to be able to better understand and lead those around you.