Self-improvement and development tips for leaders

Self-improvement is a self-guided improvement —economically, intellectually, or emotionally—often with a substantial psychological basis.

When engaged in self-improvement, people often utilize publicly available information or support groups, on the Internet as well as in person, where people in similar situations join together. From early examples in self-driven legal practice and home-spun advice, the connotations of the word have spread and often apply particularly to education, business, psychology, and psychotherapy, commonly distributed through the popular genre of self-help books. According to the APA Dictionary of Psychology, potential benefits of self-help groups that professionals may not be able to provide include friendship, emotional support, experiential knowledge, identity, meaningful roles, and a sense of belonging.
Leadership Development or Leadership Development Planning refers to the process an individual may undergo to evolve their occupational status. It is the process of making decisions for long-term learning, to align personal needs of physical or psychological fulfillment with career advancement opportunities. Career Development can also refer to the total encompassment of an individual's work-related experiences, leading up to the occupational role they may hold within an organization

“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being - Actively Improve Self-Awareness

Self-improvement is not a change that occurs overnight, but one that can take months or even years. It is important to prioritize your life for self-improvement to occur. Self-improvement helps enhance strengths, improve mental health, and even heal relationships. Some ways of self-improvement include simple tasks such as reading a book, trying something new, mediating, or even waking up early. There are so many simple, effective ways to start a self-improvement process.
“There is nothing noble in being superior to your fellow man; true nobility is being superior to your former self.” ―Ernest Hemingway

The importance of personal and professional development for current and aspiring leaders can’t be overstated. It’s the secret to separating yourself from the pack, the bridge that carries you toward the goals you have yet to reach. And the only way to continually forge a path is people will follow you down.

We often waste immense amounts of time investing in things that numb us to the reality of how short life is―such as scrolling the internet and social media for hours on end or watching TV to the point of restlessness. Entertainment is fun, but how much time do we save for ourselves? For career growth? How often do we set aside dedicated time for personal development, where we are learning and growing in a way that defines our existence? Usually not enough. For examples:

1 - Enhance Communication Style and Technique:
In this largely virtual world, we are all living and working in, the walls of the already existing silos have thickened, straining relationships, the flow of information, and the ability to do basic things like reading body language. Leaders need to learn how to properly over-communicate. Now hold on, before you start packing more Zoom meetings into the already jammed schedule, consider what I mean. Within an appropriate timeframe of already existing meetings, make time to ensure the objectives are clear, concise, and measurable, and time-bound. Set standards for proper virtual meeting etiquette. And most importantly, we must ensure each team member is immensely clear on their role in mission success. Many teams and employees have had to adapt, which means new activities, new actions, new processes, and procedures. Never assume you’ve communicated enough.

2 - Learn to Show Greater Degrees of Empathy:

This goes back to the reference of emotional intelligence. Empathy has always been a leadership quality imperative for truly connecting with others, for building meaningful relationships, and for improving the ability to inspire others, enhance engagement, and effectively provide feedback. Now, with most leaders and managers learning to lead remote teams, empathy is crucial for connecting with each team member’s unique work-from-home situation.\

3 - Develop Skills in Motivating Self and Others:

Ability x Motivation = Performance. This is a multiplication formula because if either ability or motivation is zero, performance equals zero. Adding in the pressures of social isolation on top of already low levels of engagement (in even well-run organizations), leaders must learn first how to stay motivated and then coach others in self-motivation. External motivation is fleeting. Employees need tools and resources to keep themselves at the top of their game.

4 - Invest Time in Mentorship and Coaching:

True leaders are life-long learners and never satisfied with the status quo. Always seeking transparent feedback and accountability mechanisms they can use to be in a constant state of improvement. They actively seek mentors and coaches that prepare them not for their existing level of leadership necessity, but the next. Great leaders always assume the battlefield will change and become more complex. For this, they must prepare. Leaders also need tools to learn how to truly mentor and coach direct reports. This is far more important than simply training them in a specific job function.

5 - Manage Anxiety or Stress ManagementStress Management through Better Wellness Activities:

Over the past eight months, my firm has been working closely with organizations such as Google, SalesForce, GSK, and the NFL predominantly in the areas of leading and managing remote teams, work-from-home best practices, and building a virtual culture. But one of the pieces of advice we always impart on leaders is the importance of wellness. Mind and body. It’s far more challenging to lead a team through uncertainty when you lack the energy and focus to stay the course. We encourage making time for fitness, meditation, reflection, reading, healthy eating, more sleep, and less alcohol!

6 - Goal Setting:

Goal setting involves the development of an action plan designed to motivate and guide a person or group toward a goal. Goals are more deliberate than desires and momentary intentions. Therefore, setting goals means that a person has committed thought, emotion, and behavior towards attaining the goal. In doing so, the goal setter has established a desired future state which differs from their current state thus creating a mismatch which in turn spurs future actions. Goal setting can be guided by goal-setting criteria (or rules) such as SMART criteria. Goal setting is a major component of personal development and management literature. Studies by Edwin A. Locke and his colleagues, most notably Gary Latham, have shown that more specific and ambitious goals lead to more performance improvement than easy or general goals. The goals should be specific, time-constrained, and difficult. Difficult goals should be set ideally at the 90th percentile of performance assuming that motivation and notability are limiting attainment of that level of performance. As long as the person accepts the goal, can attain it and does not have conflicting goals, there is a positive linear relationship between goal difficulty and task performance.