January is no longer new and 2022 is losing it’s sparkly luster. Yet, there’s still a lot left in the year and it’s up to us to determine what it will look like.
As a leader, what are your goals? Where do you want to grow? What do you intend to hone?
With everything that has transpired over the past two years, there are some very clear markers indicating there is singular skill successful leaders will learn and hone in 2022.
Before I spill the proverbial beans, allow me to first set the table.
As soon as rumblings from Wuhan began to make international waves at the end of 2019, the theme of conversations and articles rapidly switched to change and the unknown. Fear and uncertainty grew exponentially in 2020, as state after state shut down across the United States.
Leaders were thrust into making unheard of decisions in a shocking world no one had ever experienced, and very few had postulated.
It’s been two years and there is still no rule book for a world-wide pandemic. Yet leadership must go on.
Same for 2022. Leadership must go on.
You ready for the main course? Here it is. The skill successful leaders are to hone in 2022 is grit.
Google defines grit as “courage and resolve; strength of character.”
Leaders who are successful in 2022 will strengthen their character; they will reinforce and sustain their grit.
This sounds good, but the actual steps are nebulous and require dedication.
The foundation of delving into character work is two fold:
Self-awareness
Regenerative self-care
These two go hand in hand for an internal cycle that supports, drives, rebuilds, and sustains the leader.
Self-awareness and regenerative self-care are vast fields of ever expanding knowledge, so I am very clear I am only able to do a nod to both topics in this post.
For more detailed information on self-awareness, an internet search will provide decades of beneficial reading. The bottom line is according to John C. Maxwell, most people consider themselves self-aware, yet studies find only 10-15% of us actually are.
Ouch.
The beginning of self-awareness is to realize the odds of you being in that 10-15% are not very high, so let’s be big girls and boys and start doing some personal digging and rooting with intentionally open eyes.
Regarding regenerative self-care, I am hugely happy to report that a new resource has hit Amazon as of January 18, 2022 titled, “The Power Lies In You: An Epic Guide To Regenerative Self-Care” by Brooke Nicole, MPH.
Check. It. Out. You will find surprisingly straightforward concepts to integrate behaviors and choices into your daily life that constantly regenerate you.
Mind blown.
You cannot be an authentic leader - be with your team - if you do not strengthen your character through small, intentional, and decisive choices every day. Every day.
Successful leaders do the work. You must do the work. It’s hard. It’s rough. And you’re not the only one doing it. Let’s do it together!
Moving into 2022, leave behind previous personal conceptions, be open to honest transparency, build character, compound grit, and take 2022 by storm one choice at a time.