Page 22 - March2017

Reality Checks

TRUE LEADERS

Must Give

Themselves

Executive Summary: Everyone is capable of building the You need strong foundational work and pillars that may
character necessary to inspire a team on an emotional take months if not years to develop.
level and win their trust. Here, leadership coach Marcel
Schwantes provides five reality checks to help leaders and You need to raise your capacity to know how to create a
aspiring leaders gauge their leadership aptitude and assess compelling vision that inspires the people “in your bus” to
what changes need to be made. help you achieve it. And that vision has to be stacked on
top of a solid framework of personal and organizational
Leadership is not for the faint of heart. It never has been. values that are practiced in hallways and conference
The essence of leadership lies within who you are and how rooms, not just displayed as words on a wall.
you behave. It is character-driven.
Finally, you need good bus-driving skills. If your geeked-up
In fact, leadership and character are one and the same. project team along for the ride doesn’t know what direction
Becoming a leader means embarking on a courageous they’re headed or why they’re being steered in that
journey of strength and integrity. Not everyone is qualified, direction, then you need to stop, put that bus in reverse,
but everyone is capable if given the tools. park, get everyone off and start over.

Every leader must reach a point where they look in the In all my years of coaching leaders to lead better, or being
mirror and have a gut-check, asking themselves some an unfortunate member of unhealthy and disengaged
honest questions. But before we get to the hard realities executive teams at former companies, I have seen
that every leader or aspiring leader must face to understand firsthand some disastrous outcomes from leaders who
what it truly takes to successfully lead others, a caution: fail to create an environment that allows people to thrive
There are prerequisites. You don’t just arrive at great and - an environment where they are encouraged to work
sustainable leadership by rubbing a genie’s bottle.
22 insight march 2017