Developing Your Leadership Muscle

I remember the moment I tore my Achilles tendon.

It happened while playing basketball.

I shot a 3-pointer and looked behind me because it felt like someone kicked me below my calf.

Immediately I knew something was wrong.

• I limped to the bench, grabbed my car keys and drove home.

• It took almost 6 months to rehab and step on the court again.

But what kept me going was setting my own goals and a timeline.

I chose to reject any negative advice and looked to pro athletes that recovered successfully.

Here’s how this relates to developing your leadership muscle.

• Muscles need to be strengthened or they will eventually atrophy (die).

• Your leadership skills are the same.

If you struggle with public speaking, networking or active listening, the only way to improve is through practice.

Avoiding opportunities to learn through trial and error will hamper your career.

When I coach people, what they struggle with most (weakness) they tend to steer clear of.

That only hurts you.

Take something like fear of heights.

• You may dread riding roller coasters (🖐🏻), but you should try them (making sure they are safe first of course).

• You probably won’t ever love heights, but you can dampen you anxiety and challenge yourself to face your fears.

Public speaking freaked me out for most of my life until I realized it was a mental hurdle to overcome.

For you it could be leading a meeting, presenting an idea to executives or asking for a raise from your boss.

In each scenario, role playing, volunteering and discussing it with a mentor will strengthen your leadership muscle.

There’s a myth that most people are born with natural traits for leadership.

Although there are exceptions to that rule, the majority of people who climb the ranks in their career learned skills over time that got them promoted.

• Maybe it’s a limiting belief that’s holding you back.

How would your perspective change if you made a commitment to practice that dreaded skill?

• Using a strength analogy, working out at the gym is a choice.

• Athletes don’t develop skills without putting in the time and effort towards growth.

• Yet for some reason there’s a separation between body and mind when it comes to leadership development.

I’d argue to say growing as a leader is a habit.

Creating ample, planned opportunities to develop leadership skills will result in improvement.

So if there’s a leadership skill you’re aspiring to develop, this is your reminder to stop daydreaming about it and do something!

Communication, leadership and emotional intelligence are the Top 3 most requested topics in case those areas stand out you.

But no matter where you want to grow, build a strategy or I’ll help you develop one here.

God Bless,

Scott

If you found this helpful and you’re looking to improve your soft skills as a leader, here are ways to work with me directly:

• 🗣 Hire me to speak at your company or next event (watch my speaking reel here)

• 🎤 Invite me to lead an interactive training workshop, remotely or in-person (depending on location)

• 🤝 Start 1:1 coaching with me as a new manager, current leader or executive (I once managed 30 people 1:1 weekly❗️)

Also, you can help me out by forwarding this to friends whom would benefit from it! Thank you!