Because it’s Spring and I’m desperate to start gardening, I’m sharing my four seeds of great gutsy leadership that take root from within. You know great gutsy leaders, and maybe you are one. We’ve seen them motivate hordes of people into action. We’ve seen them in locker rooms rallying every ounce of a team’s passion and grit. We’ve seen them coming into the office early or staying late to work with a teammate who is struggling, or bringing brilliant strategies to meetings. We’ve seen them in our homes and schools setting rules and boundaries, handing out consequences, nurturing us, and teaching us to be better, smarter, and more prepared.

We remember the great ones. They changed our lives for the better. So, what separates a person who out-ranks us, from a great leader? It’s what I call “the guts” of a leader… the good stuff that’s within that radiates out.

Who doesn’t want to be a great gutsy leader? It seems to me that’s what we should all be aspiring to. That’s who we should be hiring! That’s who we should be following when we ourselves aren’t leading!

My four seeds of great gutsy leadership are self-awareness, positive self-talk, positive energy, and a mindful practice. I also suggest consistent practices to nurture and grow your gutsiness.

Seed #1: Self-Awareness

Great gutsy leaders begin growing here! If you haven’t started already, create a clear concept of who the heck you are.

Define and accept your best self.
Review personality assessments and ask yourself these questions periodically to be more aware of your own patterns:

• What values do I respect the most?
• What are my strengths?
• What are my weaknesses, and how am I working on them, or adapting?
• How do I handle conflict?
• When am I happiest?
• What do I love about myself?
• What is my purpose and life goals?
• What do I enjoy most about leading others?

Now stay focused on the best you, not the self-conscious stuff that limits you. The best you that adds value to people’s lives and leads others to greatness.

Learn what others love about you!
Performance reviews are a good tool, but don’t wait; initiate feedback on your own.

• When you see an opportunity, ask your team, your peers, your manager:
  • What do you love about me?
  • Have I pissed you off lately?
  • How do you think I can improve?
• When you invite feedback, your feedback to others will be more appreciated and motivational.

Seed #2: Positive Self-Talk

No level of obstacle can prevail in crippling a mind that’s continuously fed with positive self-talk.”
― Edmond Mbiaka

It’s true. You are your own best friend. Gutsy leaders know this.

Communicate positively to yourself.

• Consistently compliment yourself out loud using your first name. Write yourself little love notes or inspiring thoughts. Stick them somewhere like your mirror, refrigerator, or desk. Yep, it sounds a little crazy, but it really works!
• Reward yourself for a job well done. Give yourself a hug, pat yourself on the back, and send yourself a pajama gram.
• Take time for yourself. Take a fun trip, take a walk, go fishing, read a book for pleasure, invite a friend to a movie… whatever makes you feel happy and revived. C’mon now! You deserve it!

Seed #3: Positive Energy

Radiating positive energy consistently inspires and energizes those around you. It’s infectious! Teams with leaders emitting an optimistic and limitless energy achieve at a higher level. This is how teams come from behind to win in the ninth inning. When most people say, “No way. We are done.” Gutsy leaders in the dugout say, “Keeping going! We can DO this!”

• Stay present. Learn from the past, but don’t dwell in it. Plan for the future, but don’t waste energy on worry. When you are present you are calmer, a better listener, and a courageous visionary. What defines you is who you are in this moment.
• Keep moving, learning, and having fun! Leaders who are physically, mentally, and socially active have an easier time radiating optimistic energy.
• Take frequent trips out of your safety zone. Gutsy leaders are more comfortable with risk because they practice being brave. I’m not talking about anything too dangerous, but doing things that open your mind, body, and spirit. Possibilities might be practicing yoga, taking a trip to learn about a different culture, volunteering at a soup kitchen, taking a dance class, learning a new sport, taking on a challenging project, reading a poem or singing at an open-mic night, or hiking up a mountain. This is the stuff that feeds the limitless energy. The fear factor and ego are minimized. Now your default leadership mindset is open-minded and courageous.

Seed #4: Mindful Practice

A mindful leadership practice is a consistent time set aside to quiet your mind. A mindful practice allows you to be more creative, de-stress, increase concentration, and improve communication with others and yourself. You may call this meditation, journaling, or quiet time. It can be done on a walk in the woods, a jog along the beach, sitting on the floor of your bedroom or office, or in a comfy chair on the porch with a cup of tea. It’s most effective if you can hear your breath.

• Morning Intention practice. Set quiet time in the morning to set your intentions for how you want your day to go. (5-30 minutes)
  • Listen to your breath.
  • Acknowledge what your grateful for.
  • Set clear intentions on how you want to feel.
  • Visualize how you will lead and communicate your best self.
  • Detail how you want to serve and make people feel empowered.
  • Visualize success.
• Listen to your body, mind and spirit. Thank your physical and emotional symptoms of pain, chronic illness, low energy, high blood pressure, crabbiness, lack of patience, and lack of focus; then figure out and deal with the root cause. Life without balance, holding on to past emotions, lack of exercise, lack of sleep, worry, personal and professional relationship problems, and poor eating habits, are all root causes of symptoms. If you’re not functioning well, it’s difficult to be a great leader.
• Evening Reflection practice. Take time at the end of the day to reflect on what went well and what didn’t.
  • Listen to your breath.
  • Give gratitude to all that you have and all that you don’t have. Give gratitude for what is working and what is not working for you.
  • Ask yourself…
  • What worked for me today?
  • What can I let go that’s not serving me?
  • What am I learning from the challenges?
  • How can I improve as a leader?
  • Say aloud or write down something positive about yourself.
  • Say aloud or write something positive about your team.
  • Make notes to improve.

Great gutsy leaders love themselves! It’s not arrogance or lack of humility. They have taken the time to grow; to know and understand themselves. They see themselves in others, and are emotionally intelligent. They are limitless, positive, and consistently step up to mindfully serve and lead others to a higher place. Great gutsy leaders radiate to elevate.

Add some water and sunshine and now you know how to grow a great gutsy leader!

Happy Spring!

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash