58: How to Stop Worrying and Start Leading

I wish I could tell you that I've always felt confident as a leader, but I used to be a real scaredy cat. In this episode, I discuss six ways that I learned to have more confidence in my leadership abilities and not be consumed by the fear and worry about giving feedback to others. Community Feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Global: +1 (949) 385-3276 Twitter: #CFLshow [email protected] 1) Set expectations early: If expectations aren’t there with followers, create them. If they aren’t clear, clarify. Do it early or as soon as you can. 2) Be willing to change directions: A mentor gave me great advice when they said, “No leader is perfect. You can always acknowledge to a follower that something has been OK up until now, but that you are now making a different decision going forward.” 3) Ask a trusted colleague for feedback: I discovered that asking for advice from a person I trusted often gave me new ideas. 4) Respond in 24 hours: Zig Ziglar said, “If you need to eat a frog, you don’t want to look at that sucker too long. He ain’t gonna get any prettier.” (Customers - SCORE!) 5) Earn trust by being a good-finder: I spent time each day finding good stuff people were doing and told them. 6) Listen to daily inspiration: These days, I listen to podcasts. One that always gives me a boost is Michael Hyatt’s show This Is Your Life. For more discoveries on this topic, see my article: Get Rid of Your Scaredy Cat Once and For All Community Feedback USA: (949) 38-LEARN Global: +1 (949) 385-3276 Twitter: #CFLshow [email protected] Announcing our Great Leader Story Contest to air on episode #62 on November 5, 2012! Submit Real story on a specific incident Call in your story to (949) 38-LEARN or record right at your computer at: www.coachingforleaders.com/speak Keep stories to 2 minutes or less! Deadline for submission of great leader stories is Thursday, November 1, 2012 Are you a fan of the Coaching for Leaders show? Would you take 2 minutes to nominate us for an award? Here's how! First, go to: www.podcastawards.com You will see a nomination ballot on that page. Please nominate us in the BUSINESS category. Fill out the following information in that box: Podcast name: Coaching for Leaders Podcast URL: http://www.coachingforleaders.com Once you've entered that, scroll to the bottom and fill in your name and email address and hit SUBMIT - that's it! You're done! Nominations close at midnight on Monday, October 15th, so please submit as soon as possible! Thank you to Robert Dutt, Tiago Andrade, Maria Hehle, Will Duggan, Zachary Garza, Danae Valdez, Paloma Quezada for liking our Facebook fan page! I am accepting subscriptions to my free newsletter. If you would to receive more leadership resources, you can SUBSCRIBE HERE. Also, you'll receive as a bonus, a video and down-loadable list of the 10 Books That Will Make You a Better Leader. Wherever you are in the world, whatever is on your agenda today, take one idea from this show to engage and develop someone you lead.