Who Am I?

We each have our self-image, and we have the image we project.  Are they the same?  Projecting a severely edited image is exhausting and stifles creative energy.  Plus, expecting others to discover the hidden “you” is a doomed personal development strategy.  To manage well, we need to interact genuinely with our staff and colleagues.  To advance our careers, we need to display the traits that suit us for promotion. 

Spend some time considering which characteristics make up your personality and how they make you a good leader.  Some examples:

• Dynamic:  You like to be the visible leader and to take action.  Find a role, whether at work or as a volunteer where your dynamism shines.  In casual conversation or in a formal interview, highlight how your leadership action improved a situation, but tread the fine line between telling a good story and bragging.

• Collaborative: You like to work with in teams and involve others in arriving at decisions. Teams can sometimes discuss themselves into a standstill.  Good management requires a constant eye on completing work and achieving goals.  Learn to exercise and recognize your own leadership in efficient decision-making while accounting for the expertise and views of all participants.

• Translator:  You have the rare ability of understanding difficult or technical problems while also being able to explain a situation in layman’s language.  For a manager, being the link between the technical world of your staff and the more general world of senior management is invaluable.  You can improve decision making in the whole organization by incorporating detailed staff knowledge into the factors that will lead to action.