CEO of Aether Insurance, Adam Enamorado, explains how a leader’s perspective can be identified and shaped to bring their ideal vision to life.
For many leaders, a winning perspective starts with gaining self-knowledge that moves towards shared knowledge. If you don’t know where you are, how could you possibly know which way to go? This first part is very challenging because it takes dedication on a personal level to be honest with yourself about who you are as a person. It’s not always easy taking an objective look in the mirror. I am not just talking about a personal SWOT analysis here or even dreaming up your ideal self. That might happen later, but right now, I’m talking about taking inventory of the things occupying your mind and heart today. Your mind influences your heart, your heart influences your action, your action influences what you perceive, and perception is reality.
When you recognize the flaws in your attitude and thought patterns, you can begin to recognize what it means to truly lead others. Adam Enamorado reveals the first step he had to take to become the leader he is today.
A leader’s perspective is further shaped by shared knowledge that they have developed through life experiences. This is where personal reflection becomes important. Before you go to sleep at night, replay the day in your mind. End of day reflection is where a leader looks inwardly at his personal story and asks himself how sharing his story can benefit those around him. The ability to successfully mentor others usually begins with an understanding of failure or loss in one’s own life, followed by a willingness to share what has been learned from experience so that the next generation doesn’t have to repeat the same mistakes.
Adam also suggests that this shared knowledge forms the collective consciousness within organizations- it starts to take form in the way people communicate with one another. It is the leader’s responsibility to make sure that this communication is positive and constructive.
Moreover, the leader’s approach must be based on trust because loyalty cannot be established through forcibly controlling others. It can only be achieved when people are given opportunities to act freely.
This type of shared knowledge can only come about when a leader’s perspective is rooted in self-knowledge, and they have learned to share their reflections with the people around them.
Once this process is established, leaders can model what it means to be a servant to something bigger than themselves – a shared goal, a team vision.
This same perspective manifests itself differently from person to person depending on their individual needs and motivations. For some, personal satisfaction comes from developing people to realize their potential. For others, they experience fulfillment from achieving milestones. Some individuals find fulfilment through intellectual challenges while others may see success as personal, relational achievements. For Adam, professional satisfaction is mostly rooted within the desire to develop others.
Good leaders are servant-leaders. Effectively serving others starts with self-awareness. Recurring theme here. Ask yourself- What makes you happy? What is your purpose for getting up in the morning? How can you make a difference today? These are questions that require introspection and honesty to answer.
If you’re going to lead, be prepared to take ownership for the totality of your life. You cannot pick and choose what parts of your past may or may not become public knowledge. It’s nearly impossible to hide anything these days – the internet is forever! If there are skeletons hiding in your closet, someone will likely find them and share those skeletons with others. The best way to control the situation is by taking ownership of issues before they escalate into something more damaging. We’re all human. We’ve all made poor choices. That does not disqualify us from living up to our call to lead others and leave an impact on the world.
Adam also admits the first step can be extremely hard. You’ll get nowhere if you’re not willing to take the first step. The greatest resistance is at the beginning, but the more you practice being open and vulnerable in your communications, the easier your next step will be. And when people begin to respond positively to this approach, you will have great momentum that multiplies your influence.
All great leaders have an abundance mentality. An abundance mindset leads to a generous heart and generosity is a pillar of good leadership. One way that leaders show their generosity is by sharing the knowledge they’ve acquired during their experiences with others. Teaching brings new opportunities to discover and learn about oneself, so the more you share the more you gain.
Not everyone who wants to lead has the winning perspective of a great leader. The good news, however, is that everyone does have the power to change their attitude and create new thought patterns. This means that with practice and intent, one’s leadership ability can be developed and a winning perspective can be attained.
