By WCEOHQ Guest Blogger Jennifer Sertl, President, Agility3R and co-author of Strategy Leadership and the Soul
"We are what we repeatedly do; excellence then is not an act, but a habit." — Aristotle
Personal leadership is about having an intention a clearly defined declaration of what you want to create in the world—and have every single thing we do geared toward that goal. If you want to be defined byexcellence — then everything you do must resound with excellence. Not just the big important things, but the small invisible acts that no one sees or hears about.
Finally, for the first time ever, this year the goals I made are personal. Not about accomplishments but about enhancing my being. In 2008 I declared I wanted to be wise, graceful and impact-ful. As I write
in my journal at the end of the day it is about acknowledging where I was successful in accomplishing these attributes as much as where I could have been wiser, more graceful and had a greater (positive) impact. The more I focus on these goals, the greater my potential for creating value in the world. I can think of few things more important for me than to continue this practice.
So what does this have to do with you?
Part of what we need to realize here and now is that everything we do, every thing we touch, every conversation we have has our “print” on it. Just like Cold Case can open a murder investigation 20 years old and determine the DNA of a person—we are leaving our DNA everywhere. When you own this, taking personal responsibility for your actions and their subsequent 're-actions' and truly appreciate the impact of you then you may actually hold yourself to a higher standard of accountability. Just like DNA has a double helix and an imprint.
What is your imprint?
What do you want to leave behind in your wake?
What is your essence?
If you can identify this and realize that everything you do has this essence to it- you leave your mark everywhere whether you take responsibility for it or not.
Given that, make a clearer choice about what you leave behind. What do you want to create in this world? I would love to know!
More on this and leadership next time.
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