Up Your Inner Game of Leadership

What would radical self-focus look like? What are the possibilities that could emerge from radical self-focus? I propose that pausing and taking a serious deep dive into understanding yourself through building your strengths intelligence could build your capacity as a leader and produce results that you can deliver. In turn, with your new strengths knowledge, you can also benefit those around you. Mindsets shift. You can become the catalyst for interdependence.

To thrive, leaders should set both performance and learning goals. Click To Tweet

Wise leaders, like you, who want to adapt to the rapidly shifting demands of leadership and business, realize that it is challenging to do without support. Many chose to continually work with an executive coach to grow their inner game and their capacity. The inner game of leadership is as important as mastering outer competencies, if not more so for long term sustainability.

The inner game concept became popular 15 to 20 years ago. Sports coach and consultant Tim Gallwey coined this term in The Inner Game of Golf, The Inner Game of Tennis and The Inner Game of Work, and his ideas have proved to be timeless.

Character strengths are key for any leader who wants to lead well. As such, to thrive, leaders should set both performance and learning goals.

Every learning goal contributes to future performance, especially when it is strengths based. In a performance-driven culture, it can feel as if there is pressure on achievement at the expense of learning.

In my experience working with many executives, it takes courage and humility for leaders to set learning goals. Leaders must be vulnerable to acknowledging the need to learn and grow, to clarify which goals have the most leverage and to concede that they cannot succeed without the support of their teams.

It can potentially be difficult to identify where and how learning will take place, so you must always be open to learning. Obviously, work itself provides a great laboratory but an open learning mindset throughout life accelerates your growth potential. Interdependence with others is also needed for leveraging the most of strengths application.

Here are some tips for leaders who are setting learning goals. To refine your goals, ask yourself these questions:

What do I need to learn to enhance my performance?
Where do I feel strong and fulfilled?
Where am I feeling frustrated?
Where are my blind spots?
Where and from whom can I ask for feedback?
Who can help me?
Which resources are available to me?
How do I best learn and grow?
What options are available to me?

Follow these steps to expand and strengthen your inner game:

1. Set learning goals with a strengths strategy coach to achieve clarity and develop an action plan for the most effective application of your strengths.
2. After implementing your action plan, debrief the learning experience with your coach to maximize change and ensure sustainable change.

Inner Leadership
To develop your inner game, keep these points in mind:

• Professional coaching provides a safe, confidential platform for learning your inner game of leadership.
• Self 1’s ego interferes with Self 2’s inherent wisdom.
• Nonjudgmental awareness is essential and powerful.
• Learning and performance goals will prepare you for the complex future’s increasing demands.

What do you know about your strengths? Have you set strengths learning goals for yourself, for your team or have you worked with a coach on your strengths inner game? I’d love to hear from you. Contact me here and on LinkedIn.