Leadership is not about being great to delegate tasks and look superior above others. As a leader and a colleague, you mustn’t expect perfection from yourself or your team. Often, to achieve this, you must lead by example, owning up to your mistakes and embracing your flaws as an essential part of who you are.
In today’s modern workplace, a lack of ownership has become a big problem. We regularly come across leaders who make mistakes and later blame others. We’ve listened to entrepreneurs who lack a strategic plan months after being given a project. This means they lack the vision and communication with the working environment.
It’s exceptionally rare to see leaders in the workplace, allowing themselves to be vulnerable and accept and share their flaws. Mastering this strategy starts with baby steps that will soon yield tangible results. If creating a culture of transparency, trust and authenticity are important to us, then it’s time to own the human momentum and do that with pride.
Here are several reasons how accepting your flaws will make you a great leader and coworker.
Define accountability
We must understand accountability at its core to become more assertive. To be accountable means that we have control over most situations and outcomes in our everyday lives, regardless of the challenge and how bad it looks. Make sure you define accountability in your workplace and then be open to feedback when others see that you’re not sticking to the definition you developed. Identify critical points that will show others that you own what you’re doing and are aware of the current and future outcomes.
Start with the outcome on your mind
What is the end goal of what you need to own? Know it, define it and don’t change it along the way. Stick to your defined objectives and remain responsible for the possible turnover of events. Once you determine the goals, work backwards to define the path to get there. What action items need to be accomplished, and which metrics will need to be used in each step? Sticking to this plan will allow you to see when you’re off the course and what getting back on track looks like. Think of it as a big task like, for example, being involved in building a casino gaming website like SlotsWise. Where do you start? You certainly would not begin with the creatives and CTA buttons. You’ll start with the core blueprints and interface that show the final look of the product. Working backwards by selecting the pieces needed at each step in the preparation will give you a clear picture of what you should prioritise.
Build trust, integrity and don’t be afraid
Overall, people are afraid to take risks and ownership because they fear they will not achieve the wanted results. Failing to achieve a positive outcome is almost always because they didn’t begin with the end in mind. If you’re afraid that you’ll fail, write down your thoughts on those. Next, estimate how you can impact on overcoming that fear because most of those fears will probably be your points of views. The plan, time management, passion and work are all in your control if you choose to take this active mindset approach. It would not be easy, but the hard work is what will give you reap you the rewards. Your journey and style will create trust with your direct reports and allow others to be comfortable in making their own brave and bold decisions.
Ownership is a mindset, a choice to realise that tomorrow is a new day and if yesterday’s plan failed, you’ve already had a chance to start fresh. You don’t have to start all over-make few corrections and think clearly and honestly on what will get you back on track. Choose ownership regardless of the situation and find real courage through triumph over what holds you back.