Speed is everything is this dynamic and ever-changing landscape of life and business. Speed to innovate, Speed to change, Speed to respond is all a part and parcel of a successful individual. And because of this demand, many corporations today move with haste in response to their performance objectives to implement change within their corporation. But how many of those changes are really necessary? and are we all just reacting than creating bold steps forward? These strategies typically involve growth strategies, new operations, altering systems, including infrastructure and creating new policies.

These are all wonderful ideas in theory, but seldom live up to their potential because of failure of our decisions will have a ripple effect on our personal and corporate lives and we end up making more of the same hasty decisions to revert it all back to normalcy.

To Be a Successful Leader You Have to Look Inside

Quoting the famous Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, “Everyone thinks of changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” How can businesses change if their leadership does not?

Stepping back and self-assessing yourself from the inside out, you will have to discover what makes you tick. I have discussed about this in great detail in my earlier post on how you can self assess your strengths and weakness to succeed. Individuals have their own values, priorities, beliefs, goals, and fears and this differs from one person to the next guiding decision-making. It is your perspective and experiences that you see as realities that end up being a major chunk of your decision making process. So knowing how you think and why plays a pivotal role in justifying your actions. Most of us make decisions without being mindful of why, our brain is wired is a certain way through constant daily use and that ends up being our “Muscle Memory”.

Train your way up

A Muscle Memory is when you don’t have to think and you will just execute when a situation shows up. If you are prepared, you will execute well, if not, you will end up panicking and the end result will be disastrous. That is why top athletes in the world train and practice for hours and hours so that when a particular situation shows up, the Muscle memory takes over. We too have been training some of those behaviors, some good and some not so great. One of the aspects that i have noticed my muscle memory take over is my response to anger. Whenever there is an argument or an angry situation that is directed towards me, I feel that i need to retaliate back in the same way which is not helpful especially when you are dealing with business and customers. So it took me many years of constant deliberate practice to overcome this behavior and now I am a monk in high pressure situations.

  • Stephen J. Dubner of Freakonomics can attest to that (Link)
  • Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers sheds light on this in “10,000 hour rule (Link)

Many executives aren’t aware that their choices are extensions of their inner reality, which leads them on a day-to-day basis. Yet it’s critical that those who seek to lead their departments and businesses forward in an effective manner look at their internal experiences because they are changing their circumstances unknowingly.

You have to take responsibility by being accountable to yourself. Accountability as an executive involves understanding what drives you. Coming to terms with yourself inwardly may sound like a challenge but ask the deeper questions and answer them truthfully because you are only accountable to yourself.

Simple Accountability tips:

  1. Before you decide anything ask 5 “Whys” to that decision, you will be surprised by the root of that decision.
  2. Be mindful of your strengths and weakness and make attempts to perfect them and add it to your ritual.
  3. Never make any decision on impulse even if the situation demands it.
  4. Practice new habits, it helps rewire your brain. This in turn helps your future decisions as your brain engages these new neuron pathways.

Hard work always creates good luck in the process, its inevitable actually.