Success begins with a mindset.
This is true regardless of your endeavors, but it is particularly important in leadership. As a leader, your success isn’t just about you. It drives and empowers the success of your team and those looking to your example.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of leaders out there who display toxic and disruptive traits. You can combat a damaging leadership mindset by adopting these healthy mental habits:
6 Mental Habits that Drive Successful Leadership
#1 – Strive for something beyond yourself.
Effective leaders are driven beyond their own gain. While you surely want success for yourself, you are driven and motivated by a higher goal or calling. For some, this might be rooted in religious or ethical beliefs. You may be passionate about a particular cause or goal. Regardless, the best leaders aren’t just in it for themselves. Keeping your focus on these bigger, greater motivators allows you to put your work in perspective while also protecting you from the dangers of egotism and self-centeredness.
Great leaders care about the people around them and the impact they have on the world.
#2 – Welcome diversity and dialogue.
Narrowmindedness is dangerous, particularly for those in a position of power. As a leader, you should welcome a wide range of backgrounds, experiences, and ideas to the table. It’s easy to think that you know what’s best for your business – but others can help you see your blind spots. Welcome disagreements and discussions. It may seem like inviting dialogue slows down progress, but effective, respectful mingling of ideas and peoples allows you to make decisions with the most clarity and perspective possible.
#3 – Think in abundance.
We either have a scarcity mindset or an abundance mindset. The scarcity mindset is an obsession with what you lack. It might be time, money, or influence. You see life and its resources as finite. If someone has more, that’s less for you. This can make you overprotective, paranoid, and power-hungry. A mindset of abundance, however, makes room for others to succeed. It gives you the freedom to use your time without fear. If you think in terms of abundance, you can better empower others to thrive.
#4 – Forgive wrongs.
Forgiveness is tough. Even in business relationships, you’ll encounter people you’ll need to forgive. They may make big mistakes, say the wrong thing, do the wrong thing, or even hurt you purposefully. Forgiveness isn’t for their sake – it’s for yours.
Remember, forgiveness is not letting anyone get away without consequences. It’s not forgetting it happened. It is simply choosing not to hold on to grudges, not to seek retribution, and not to let them or their actions live rent-free in your head.
They say the best revenge is living well – and I have to agree! Don’t spend another minute holding on to ill-will. In the long run, it drags you down.
#5 – Hope for the best.
Optimism is a lost art, particularly in our increasingly pessimistic and depressing world. As a leader, you set the tone for your team. You drive thought patterns, company culture, and reactions to challenges. When you hope for the best and see failure as opportunity, you’re better able to manage stress, tackle tough issues, and inspire others to keep moving forward.
Optimism isn’t burying your head in the sand. You don’t ignore problems, but you approach them with a sense of discovery, innovation, and opportunity. You don’t waste time complaining – rather, you focus on solutions.
#6 – Respect disagreement and constructive criticism.
Leaders are a voice of authority. Because of this, we often feel like our word should be taken with a level of respect – even unquestioned acceptance. We’re more effective, however, when we recognize that we are not all-knowing and we are fallible. You will grow personally and professionally when you respect when others disagree with you. And when you can accept constructive criticism, you’ll find that you will grow to be a better and more effective leader.
Accepting constructive criticism doesn’t just mean listening to it, either. It means being able to listen without getting defensive and then being able to carefully examine yourself considering the critique. When you can work to change yourself for the better without being controlled by embarrassment, resentment, or defensiveness, you’ll excel!
What principles keep you focused and effective as a leader? Share in the comments.