Navigating leadership terrains could be daunting when a leader isn’t well or adequately prepared to take on leadership responsibilities. Many leaders have had to take on leadership responsibilities at times and moments when they never thought or envisaged them. Necessity just places them in such leadership positions and they have little or no choice than to just flow with the tide. So, what do you do if this scenario describes your current leadership endeavors? I am going to give you four (4) tips that is going to help you survive and become successful in your leadership endeavors.
Listen to Podcast: 4 Tips For Successful Navigation Through Difficult Leadership Terrain
Number One: Trust God to empower you with the Spirit of Wisdom. It takes wisdom to be able to lead effectively. No leader anywhere in the world, who is bereft of wisdom, can lead anything or any venture successfully. Leadership is a potent display of wisdom at work and this is why every leader requires the Spirit of wisdom. So, the starting point to leading anything is to ask God for wisdom. For example, David was a successful shepherd, he led his father’s few sheep and he led the whole nation of Israel. However, his successor, Solomon, had never led anything before he became king.
Number Two: Adjust your mindset by seeing that assignment as a major responsibility that only you can execute. And this is just the absolute truth. If there was someone else to do the job, nobody is going to thrust it on you. The reason it has to be you is simply because there was no one else. Leadership is about solving problems and shouldering responsibilities. So, you have to begin to see yourself in that light. You have to say to yourself “if I don’t lead this organization, no one would and the organization would collapse” or “if I refuse to lead these people, no one would, and the people would go astray.”
Number Three: Engage your team every step of the way. When you find yourself in a leadership terrain that is not your natural habitat, the best way to navigate such terrain is to engage. Don’t be in it alone. Carry your team members and other stakeholders along so that they can become your co-travelers along that terrain. Remember the Bible says “one shall chase a thousand and two shall put ten thousand to flight” (Deuteronomy 32:30). Imagine you the leader and your team constantly engaging one another, it simply means the impossible would be possible in no time.
Number Four: Set goals for yourself. When you set goals for yourself, it will help you to measure your progress in the leadership assignment. If there are no goals, measuring progress becomes almost impossible. Every goal achieved is recorded as a milestone and it therefore encourages you to want to do more. For example, imagine your goal is to increase production by 200 percent within a stipulated period, and you are able to accomplish it in collaboration with your team, then that becomes a morale booster to set even more attainable goals. So, set Specific, Measurable, time-bound, and achievable goals for yourself as a leader in a new leadership assignment or responsibilities.
[Centre for New Dimension Leadership]
