WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW LEADERS’ LIFESTYLE

Great leaders come from all walks of life. They seldom follow a predetermined path to leadership. 

Few are born leaders. But they were not picked up as leaders by judging their school or college results. We all know that every successful leader overcomes obstacles and failures to reach the top. For many, it defines their leadership and lifestyle and drives them to scale newer heights.

Leaders are successful in their way. While many people see them as extraordinary, at some point, they were viewed as ordinary by people around them. Most people rank great leaders, but ranking leaders based on their skills and talent is irrational because it takes away their achievements.  

In the past few years, the world has witnessed the influence of leaders from all sections of our society, for example, politics, corporate, media, entertainment, socio-political, government, etc. And we know great leaders lead all the time, and they are consistent all the time. 

Leadership affects our everyday life and experiences. Everything they say or do has an impact. We either bring others up, or we bring them down. We either add value, or we ignore it.  

Being a true leader is challenging because it requires an intentional and consistent approach to all they do. Leaders never choose days to give their best but embrace leadership as a lifestyle. And when they adopt a lifestyle, it shows up in whatever they do. 

In this blog, we will look into the lifestyle of a leader. Most leaders have closely similar attributes, and that differentiates them from others. Let’s take a look at the day-to-day lifestyle of an impactful leader and the key strategies used to invest.

Focus: The leader arrives at work every day with a clear on transforming the organisation and making it successful. Eighty percent of the day, the focus is on the vital priorities necessary to move the transformation agenda forward. Communicating, motivating, celebrating short-term wins, empowering teams of other leaders to keep moving. The day-to-day issues they know will evolve from some urgency that needs attention draws the other twenty percent of the day. However, because the leader created leaders at all levels, such emergencies become lesser.

Not being busy: It is common to assume that a high-performing leader is more occupied than others because a leader can cover more ground, but it is incorrect. A high-impact leader accelerates influence by setting priorities, limiting targets, and focusing on a few vital strategies. According to a performing leader, being too occupied is the enemy of achievement because an exhausted leader is an ineffective family and community member. 

A true leader restricts the field of impact and accomplishes something, gives hope, demonstrates movement, and energises others. 

Relations: In any section of society, people deliver outcomes and not plans. Trust, encouragement, appreciation, coaching, and communication are the base of human efforts. An impactful leader recognises this and understands that out of a few commitments must be about investing in human capital and human relations. 

The leader does not boss around the team or associates to manage the effort. The leader creates availability to find opportunities to keep vigour high and take corrective steps on time. In addition, opportunities arise when the leader moves among team members, reinforcing focus and showing keen interest in the efforts. 

Trusting the leader is a long-term investment because people want to see the person behind the position. A dedicated leader is open and embraces a lifestyle that reveals his identity. The leader invests in people, hearing their questions, ideas, and fears. 

Develop others: One of the highest returns on investment in the lifestyle of a leader. A leader has an inborn feature of developing others. Here, it does not mean training self or training others. Showing a deep interest in helping people grow, appreciating their learning and accomplishments, and helping them find better opportunities to learn with the work that is immediately around them assists the leader in bringing the leadership string to reality. 

The leader knows that development will happen when applied to the challenges and opportunities immediately surrounding the current work. 

An impactful leader weighs the overall leadership development program in the organisation. The leader is active in teaching, mentoring, coaching, and advising the team members on developmental opportunities. Developing others also grow the competencies like communication, employee engagement, innovative thinking, and leading change in the leader.

Permitting challenge: Most of us would wonder how an effective leader achieves several breakthrough ideas? Why does a leader have creative, innovative ideas emerge from his organisation? The leader creates a climate where team members are comfortable challenging assumptions or views. Rather than being defensive when the ideas or processes get questioned, the leader appreciates the possibilities fresh eyes might provide.

The leader encourages experimenting with processes and products. The leader also creates a climate of – How can we improve?, instead of You need to improve!

Values: The lifestyle of a leader is rich with values. The values guide the leader, the way to conduct himself throughout all avenues of life. It affects leadership skills, responding to people, and the purpose of being a leader. The leader follows a lifestyle with significance to everyone he interacts and adds a personal touch to upliftment. 

Balancing life and work: An highly influential leader knows he does not live to work. Despite investing long hours whenever required, the leader navigates the work or life dilemma by making the family and personal growth meaningful. 

The high-impact leader has a personal health regimen and builds time in the year to recharge energy and keep learning. The leader has commitments despite the pressures of the organisation. The chances, the leader you know, starts and ends the day gymming are high.

The above characteristics define the core lifestyle of a distinguished leader. We should know why a leader needs to maintain a lifestyle that is replicable?

Organizations or corporates that are huge today began from scratch. They endured slumps and depressions for years. They became successful after years of trials, struggles, and hard-work because they defined their core values in the early stages and built a culture of leaders around them. Leaders created leaders. A leader builds a unique culture through nurturing and celebrating values. When the leader promotes values directly increases the likelihood that the team members will make a consistent and positive behaviour or choices in their life. 

When a trendsetter develops a lifestyle and illustrates it throughout, the leader carries through work and life is destined for sustainability and growth.

Before we conclude, let us summarise what elements does a leader include in trendsetting lifestyle. Living a lifestyle of a leader requires conscientious effort to do the following consistently:

• Building others
• Being a team member
• Having a positive attitude
• Encouraging others
• Doing the difficult tasks
• Showing up early
• Staying late
• Taking notes
• Asking questions
• Mentoring others
• Seeking help
• Gaining knowledge and wisdom
• Serving others first

Well, we all know, a genuine leader incites encouragement, motivation, and inspiration. A leader lives and leaves a legacy.