Personal Development For Leaders

Is there something about the term ‘personal development’ that just hits you wrong and you don’t know why? Does thinking about doing some personal development get you anxious and feeling like there’s something wrong with you?

Whenever an email comes in from one personal development guru or the next, they all have a similar theme. The general theme is that somehow something isn’t right with the reader and they need to get into gear and change something about themselves. This automatically causes fear and stress.

Rather than talking about personal development, it would be in the highest interest of people to focus on personal discovery. Going on a self-discovery mission is far more exciting and productive because it empowers a person rather than putting them in an “I’m not good enough” position.

This self-discovery could start with a simple email to family and friends asking them 1 question: what do they think you're great at or do with ease that seems difficult for them?

Most likely you will be very surprised with the answers you will receive. This process will help you define some of your strengths. Add to that list the things that you love doing. Look for similarities as well as qualities or strengths that are beneficial in different areas of your life. Determine how you could capitalize on your strengths by using them more frequently.

The brave ones could ask another question: what have you noticed about me when I am under stress?

Stress is a self-imposed reaction to an event. In other words, whatever is happening just IS. It has no meaning, but we assign meaning to it through our thoughts, feelings and behaviors. Some reactions are so automatic that we don’t even think about it. You may have one or more automatic reactions that you do under stress without any conscious awareness.

Add to that list any traits that you’ve noticed about your response to stress. Look for understanding about the things you didn’t realize about yourself. Choose any behaviors that you would like to use instead of those or possibility an action that you can take to bring your level of stress down before responding. Making conscious choices puts you back into your power.

Dr. Carl Jung had a great way of looking at things. He said, “wisdom accepts that all things have 2 sides”. His viewpoint was that a weakness is an overused strength. With that understanding, one can simply pull back on the particular weakness and they return to their strengths.

As an example, one of my strengths is that I’m open, friendly and easy-going. However, when I react to stress negatively, I can be insensitive of others’ needs. With conscious awareness of the impact that I’m having on other people and knowing some of my natural tendencies in different situations, I can choose. In a stressful situation, I can then choose to find a way to lighten things up; ask the other person how I can support them in the situation;or look for another way to reduce the stress in the situation.

Each person has attributes, unique gifts and talents that makes them stand out. A third question that could be asked is: what value do I bring to a team?Find out what others see about you that helps facilitate or create an effective team interaction. Great leaders are usually good followers and team players too.

Lastly, ask those same people: what approach do I tend to take as a leader? Compare the answers with how you see yourself. There could be some big differences, including things that you didn’t acknowledge or honor about yourself. Determine from there what you would like to do more or less of in the future.

If personal development rubs you the wrong way, then choose to do self-discovery. By doing self-discovery, you can gain a deeper understanding of who you are and lay the foundation for choosing the experiences that you would like to have more of by adapting in ways that better support you.

Susan Bagyura, a leadership coach and author, works with leaders to inspire success from the top down. http://www.thevisionaryleader.com/blog.