One of the biggest failures which people who wish to be leaders make, is failing to learn properly from others. The reality of it is this, there is a very small percentage of people who have leadership in their blood, who just take to it well and who are born with those natural instincts. The rest of us can be great leaders too, but the reality is that we have to work for it. There are many natural born leaders out there like Bryan Cumby, who actually take their message out to the public, and this provides us with a fantastic opportunity to learn.
Not being a great leader naturally means very little, the key is what you are willing to do to increase your skills. Here is how learning from other leaders like Bryan, can really help you out.
Learning From Mistakes
One of the best ways in which you can learn anything is by making mistakes, if you have the right mindset. When you listen to leaders talk about their own experience however, they will share with you the many mistakes which they have made on the road to where they are now. This means that you can use their experience and their hindsight to avoid making the same mistakes as they did. Will you still make some mistakes? Of course you will, and you should learn from those too. Spending time with a long standing leader however, that will help you to avoid even more.
Self Reflection
In order to improve anything about your leadership skills you have to first understand where you are, and that requires a lot of self reflection. This sounds easy enough, but the truth is that it is hard to look in the mirror and spot those mistakes. Those who talk about and teach leadership, they have been there, seen it and done it, and they can hit nerves which will trigger you. There will be things which are said that will make you recognize the failings which you have, and sometimes this is all you need to be inspired to change.
Motivation
Not all of those who teach leadership are natural born leaders, many of them have had to work incredibly hard to get to where they are. If this is the case and you also don’t consider yourself as a natural born leader, then you will find that you are greatly motivated and inspired by the person standing in front of you. Watching someone who has actually done it and found great success through hard work, that is certainly someone who you can aspire to.
Ultimately being a great leader starts with yourself, about understanding what you need to be better at, and understanding how to get better at it. The moment that you think you have nothing left to learn, is the moment that your skills will start to wane. Be sure that you pay attention to those who are happy to impart knowledge.
