{"id":1392,"date":"2019-01-29T08:42:44","date_gmt":"2019-01-29T13:42:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/clearviewcom.com\/?p=1392"},"modified":"2019-02-24T20:31:28","modified_gmt":"2019-02-25T01:31:28","slug":"how-to-strengthen-your-leadership-powers-through-self-knowledge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/clearviewcom.com\/how-to-strengthen-your-leadership-powers-through-self-knowledge\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Strengthen Your Leadership Powers Through Self-knowledge"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Is it a case of \u201ceverything old is new again,\u201d or \u201cgreat advice is timeless\u201d? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
My new year\u2019s resolution to study more of the writings of distinguished business developers resulted in a pre-dawn mental shock this morning when I was struck by the uncanny similarities between the messaging of Dr. William Anton<\/a> in his seminal work, Business Success Through Self Knowledge<\/a><\/em>, and that of sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer<\/a> in his Little Red Book of Selling<\/a><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n Yes, the two sages could not be more dissimilar in their methods of instruction, their philosophies of guidance and the actual words they use. Here\u2019s what hit me so hard \u2013<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gitomer, page 45 in The Little Red Book<\/em>: \u201cBe selfish. Do it for yourself. Selfish wins. In order for you to be the best you can be for others, first you must be best for yourself\u2026your shortcomings in all of your endeavors stem from the fact you\u2019re not being the best person you can be first.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Declared like a Marine drill instructor, right? <\/p>\n\n\n\n Anton, page 50 in the Preface of Business Success<\/em>: \u201cLeaders who have only limited access to their own potential can unknowingly disrupt the entire enterprise, but leaders who are committed to broadening access to their own potential through increasing their self-knowledge are in an optimal position to improve the quality and level of performance in their organization.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Offered like a scholarly professor, an erudite philosopher, right?<\/p>\n\n\n\n What the drill instructor and the erudite philosopher have in common is their very compatible conclusions that leaders must practice constant introspection to understand the why <\/em>of every action the take or inaction they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n That\u2019s\nbecause, as I understand them (with apologies, Bill and Jeffrey), our\nleadership decisions are persuaded by mental models developed over our lifespan\nthat are applied by our subconscious during the decision-making processes. If\nwe don\u2019t understand ourselves \u2013 the why of our actions, the mental models\naffecting our behavior \u2013 we cannot fully assess the constructive or destructive\nresults of those decisions; and not only in the workplace, but in all human relationships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am reminded of the time I was called in to provide persuasive messaging<\/em> for the head of one of the largest agencies of the federal government who was preparing to go before the U.S. House Appropriations Committee to argue for his agency\u2019s budget increase for the coming fiscal year. Simply, I learned very quickly, he didn\u2019t want to do it. During our sessions, he refused to cooperate in our role-playing, avoided embracing the principles of assertive persuasion, provided timid responses to the challenging questions we anticipated from the committee members, and in general just wanted to escape the session and leave the room.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I thought to myself, \u201cHere is the head of a huge federal agency that needs 100s of millions of dollars to continue to meet its obligations to the American people, and he\u2019s dodging the responsibility to aggressively go after those dollars.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I looked him in the eye and asked, \u201cWhat\u2019s wrong?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Silently, I waited a full half minute for the reply, which came in a whisper: \u201cMy father was a salesman and I hated it. I\u2019m not that.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The response had arisen from deep within the shadows of his past, squeezed from his subconscious. We both paused in silence to allow this discovery to manifest itself fully. \u201cI\u2019m ready,\u201d he said. \u201cLet\u2019s proceed.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A month later, a note popped up from him in my e-mail inbox with the subject line CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET HEARING. Reluctantly, fearfully, I clicked it open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAndy,\u201d he wrote, \u201cI went right after the Secretary of State\u2019s people and I did great. We got it. Thank you.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" If we don\u2019t understand ourselves \u2013 the why of our actions, the mental models affecting our behavior \u2013 we cannot fully assess the constructive or destructive results of those decisions<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":1403,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[48,46,59,61],"yoast_head":"\nHis Dad Was Like a Salesman<\/h4>\n\n\n\n