Leadership is not about inspiring people to do what you want. It is about leading by example. So, if you want to lead with character and conviction, here are six things that you can do. I promise to do what I can to make my team s vigorously committed to what I am saying.
Promise your commitments- If you are a leader who is seeking leadership, it is your responsibility to make sure that you don't break your promises. Nothing weakens the integrity of a team like a promise that you break. Imagine the look on the team faces if you don't keep your word to your team. Lack of trust is very damaging to a team. If you want to lead with character and conviction, then you need to be steadfast about keeping your commitments to your team.
Keep your word, but make it bigger and better - If you make your commitment and then you backslide, this is not a good way to inspire the trust and loyalty that is needed to lead. In order to gain the trust of your team, you have to be willing to back it up. If you can do this, you will be able to inspire your team to do the same.
Lead with character and conviction - Another thing that you can do to lead with character and conviction is to take ownership of your failures. You might be wondering how this is different from leading without conviction. I would say that in the latter, you don't take ownership of your failures. This leads to blame culture and resistance to change.
Lead with character and conviction - A third way to lead with character and conviction is to make promises to your team that you cannot keep. Don't make promises that you can't fulfill. When you make promises, don't take them at face value. Ask yourself if you can actually meet the challenge. For example, if you promise to make x number of sales this month, and you can only make x number of sales, then that is not going to motivate your team to work harder. Promise with action, and your team will realize that you mean what you say.
Make your promises and be firm - Finally, make your promises with confidence. One of the most common reasons that teams break apart is when there is fear or lack of confidence in a leader. You have to be confident in what you are promising. Be confident in the product or service that you are promising. And of course, you have to be believable.
How can you lead with character and conviction? It's simple. When you are leading others, by example, you set the standard that other people will follow. You instill confidence in your team members so they know that they can trust you and hold you accountable for the actions that you take as a leader. The bottom line is that the more you grow as a leader, the more your team will like you and trust you. This will give you the opportunity to lead with character and conviction.
As you can see, you can lead with character and conviction by following these three principle. You just have to make sure that you never make a promise that you can't fulfill. If you find that you are breaking one of these rules, then stop making promises until you can make them true. If you do this, your team will quickly begin to look up to you for the success that you promise them.
