SELF-LEADERSHIP
The 7 Mental Habits of Successful Leaders
Develop your own success-mindset for work and life
Our mindset has a huge impact on the way we perform at anything in life. Your mental model in a given situation influences whether you embrace or avoid something, quit altogether, lose sight of your goal or simply enjoy the journey of discovery.
“The problem human beings face is not that we aim too high and fail, but that we aim too low and succeed.”
— Michelangelo
This article will discuss 7 mental habits that successful leaders exhibit.
1. Give to Others
Giving should not be mistaken as a weakness. Empathy is a strength. That is, being empathetic about helping others achieve their goals is the essence of leadership.
People tend to avoid anyone who is only interested in their own performance, their own ideas, those who see themselves as the centre of the universe.
People who isolate are eventually isolated.
A genuine interest in helping others summons loyalty and respect, which can manifest in future reciprocity. Those who always support other people or lead a group to achieve a collective goal in challenging situations often find that others will do likewise in return for them.
Leaders take satisfaction by helping others to succeed.
2. Take Action
Mediocrity is nothing more than untapped potential devoid of action. The world is full of people who talk about things they want to do, want to achieve and even how they can do it if only they took action.
Action is the only differentiator.
History has proven that it’s not the most talented that survive, or succeed, rather those who refuse to quit. Failing to take action guarantees failure.
“You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.”
— Wayne Gretzky
Excuses feed procrastination. Circumstances can only dictate the outcome of your destiny with your permission. So don’t wait for the right time, there’s never a perfect time, that’s a myth. Act on your ambition now and every day. Chase down your dreams, if you succeed or fail, you win because you’ll live life without regrets.
Leaders are action orientated.
3. Be Optimistic
When you approach any endeavour in a positive manner you’ll soon believe that you can create something significant, and you can have an impact.
“The average pencil is seven inches long, with just a half-inch eraser, incase you thought optimism was dead.”
— Robert Brault
Nobody ever achieved anything that they were certain they would achieve from the outset, they simply took the first step, overcoming doubt with a health dollop of optimistic action.
Great leaders are optimistic opportunity seekers.
4. Resilient Patience
Progress is non-linear, It’s more like a meandering river. A flowing journey unchartered on any map, littered with ups and downs, but ultimately trending upwards over time if you stay the course. Learning to deal with setbacks is grounded in resilience, a mirror that reveals our true potential.
Every dream seems easy to achieve in our mind's eye, initially. We rarely anticipate obstacles, imagining that everything will run smoothly and unfold exactly to plan, perfectly, what could go wrong?
Everything. This is not how it works in reality, we all know this. There are always obstacles, delays, life-events, unforeseeable incidents, unpredictable roadblocks, and so on.
“Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient.”
— Steve Maraboli
Patience is the gateway to resilience during challenging times. Expect a bumpy road. A road less travelled is peppered with potholes, bumpier than most, an indicator that your perfectly conceived dream will manifest through imperfection.
A “resilient leader is a person who sees failures as temporary setbacks they can recover from quickly.” (Folkman, 2017)
5. Learn to Adapt
In the new world, one quality stands out as essential going forward, is the ability to be flexible, agile when change strikes.
You might have great plans, but even the best-designed plans can be hijacked or led stray when unforeseen events occur. Don't allow yourself to be stuck in one way of thinking, be flexible, embrace change with a new perspective.
Adaptability may be the single most important trait in the post-pandemic world.
Adaptability is a common characteristic that the world’s top entrepreneurs share, they learn how to pivot on demand.
Great leaders are “quick and nimble”, but most of all, adaptable.
6. Take Care
All successful people know that the one thing that can help them to achieve their goals is peak health — mind and body. They are committed to healthy living in order to harness the energy they need for the road ahead.
“When you recover or discover something that nourishes your soul and brings joy, care enough about yourself to make room for it in your life.”
— Jean Shinoda Bolen
Sleep, diet and fitness are crucial for peak performance. So take care of your mind, body and soul, regularly exercising each dimension of yourself.
Serious leaders practice self-care.
7. Gratitude Attitude
It’s good to have your eye on your future goals, hunting for something new, as long as you don’t allow your vision of tomorrow blind what’s in front of you now. Always value everything in your life right now, at this very moment — the present.
“Gratitude is the healthiest of all human emotions. The more you express gratitude for what you have, the more likely you will have even more to express gratitude for.”
— Zig Ziglar
Your self worth should never be dictated by the outcome of an event because you’ll never be content. So enjoy the grind, the daily process of progress, because the journey is the reward, not the destination.
Be thankful for the present moment … breathe it in.
Final Thoughts
There you have it, the 7 mental habits that successful leaders exhibit every day, habits that you too can adopt right now. The choice is yours.
To recap, allow me to summarise the 7 takeaways:
- Give to others — Giving of yourself is a gift
- Take action — Just don't standstill
- Be optimistic — Why not?
- Resilient patience — Pause and watch your strength emerge
- Learn to adapt — Agility is an incredible ally
- Take care — Look after yourself
- Gratitude attitude — Appreciate the now
Habits are the building blocks of your authentic self with conscious sincerity and an appetite for self-improvement.
“The quality of your mind is the quality of your life.”
— Thomas Oppong
Habits are formed when practised consistently, at every juncture every day.