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Effective leadership
To be an effective leader, you have to be authentic, acknowledge what you don’t know, and be willing to make mistakes.
E ffective leadership is crucial to advancing one’s career, something I’ve experienced firsthand as president and CEO of Larson Design Group. I shared some advice on the topic at a recent virtual meeting of Leadership Lycoming, a specialized training program operated by the Williamsport-Lycoming Chamber of Commerce designed to develop and motivate effective leaders in their communities. Here are some takeaways from that talk.
Dave Martin
KNOW, GO, SHOW. I’ve often looked at my career in three stages, each of which relate to beneficial actions to take in furthering one’s professional goals – a blueprint I think of as “know, go, show.” To “know” is important early in your career, because it’s the time to do everything you can to learn as much as you can about your business and your path. You have to really learn your craft, look for educational opportunities, and find ways to volunteer in your field or your community. Soak up all the knowledge you can. By contrast, the “go” stage is all about action. In this stage, you take all that knowledge you’ve collected and do things with it. This is the time to really grow in your career and start positioning yourself to accomplish the professional goals you’ve set for yourself.
In this stage it’s important to find a coach or a mentor who can help you reach important milestones and continue to learn, because even the best still have room to grow. Even Tom Brady has a coach. Finally, the “show” stage of one’s career is largely what it sounds like: to show others how to be successful. This is when you’ve likely achieved significant successes in your own career, which is the best time to share that knowledge with others. It’s a perfect time to act as a mentor for others, but also to think about vision, strategy, culture, and more – things that will benefit your company or industry in the long-term. THE IMPORTANCE OF AUTHENTICITY (AND MAKING MISTAKES).
See DAVE MARTIN, page 12
THE ZWEIG LETTER APRIL 26, 2021, ISSUE 1389
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