Being a manager today invariably attracts a seemingly constant barrage of self-help newsletters, articles and videos on the attributes needed to be an inspirational leader said author, presenter and leadership development coach Stephen Chong.

Commenting further, Stephen Chong said many of the inspired leadership attributes include Pragmatic Planning; Personal Effectiveness; Customer Focus and Awesome Results just to name a few. “But the reality is managers don’t fly around the office with a red cape on their shoulders, matching boots and a large ‘S’ on their chest”.

“We are all collectively human beings with many significant attributes and any number of undisclosed or unrecognised shortcomings. Even the great cricketer Don Bradman didn’t average perfection over his illustrious career!”

What does this mean asks Stephen Chong? Quite simply it’s imperative for managers and aspiring leaders to have a very good grasp of their leadership assets along with a healthy sense-of-purpose.

It also means being clearly aware of those personal areas that need to be developed.

During the course of Stephen’s extensive career as a leadership development coach and mentor he has encountered many executives and managers who, upon attaining the much sought after position, believe that they’ve ‘made it’. That the learning journey is done and all they have to do is ‘execute’.

“Regrettably I’ve seen many falls from grace as a direct result of this attitude and hubris”, affirmed Stephen Chong. “As a leader, the learning journey never ends – it’s a continuum”.

“There are many ways to learn with the worst being ‘learning from mistakes’. Whilst admirable – it’s an unwelcome leadership attribute if they take others (and the business) with them on the downward journey”.

Learning from others is the better way, affirmed Stephen Chong. Somebody’s done it before! Walked the same path, made the mistakes (and that knowledge and experiences can be learnt from).

This makes sense, doesn’t it? After all, it’s better to learn from someone else’s mistakes rather than your own.

All leaders (irrespective of their fields of endeavour) should strive to be driven by the motto of ‘getting good people around you’. This has always served the best managers and leaders well. “After all,” continued Stephen, “leadership is not confined to the pinnacle of the organisation. It is found (and should be fostered) in the many managers and supervisors within various levels of the organisational context.”

“The purpose of my books, workshops and leadership training programs is to help managers bring the best out of themselves in order to do the same for the people they work with. To help them realize the great (unlimited) potential they have within them – whatever their current position.

“The great thing about being a coach is that you are able to watch as executives, managers (and teams) blossom beyond the limits of their initial expectations. All it requires is being open to knowing that there is a lot you don’t know”, concluded Stephen Chong.

Source: Inspired Leadership – ‘Are You Ready?’ asks Stephen Chong

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