{"id":714,"date":"2011-08-31T02:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-31T02:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/markccrowley\/wordpress\/?p=45"},"modified":"2011-08-31T02:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-31T02:00:00","slug":"unconditional-acceptance-of-ourselves-makes-us-better-leaders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging-wmplo.xyz\/mark-c-divi5\/unconditional-acceptance-of-ourselves-makes-us-better-leaders\/","title":{"rendered":"Unconditional Acceptance Of Ourselves Makes Us Better Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"While I\u2019ve only worked for a handful of truly inspiring leaders in my life, what this small group all shared was a deep belief in themselves and their abilities. They were extremely comfortable in their own skins and embodied a form of self confidence that repelled any and all fear of others succeeding at their expense.<\/p>\n

As I think back on these unique people, I realize now that I could feel that they weren\u2019t competing with me on any level. The supportive energy they were putting out made me \u2013 on some unconscious level \u2013 feel safe and thereby encouraged to be my natural self at work, to trust my own creativity, and to seek ways of helping the organization succeed.<\/p>\n

The obvious trait all these leaders displayed was a desire to see their employees grow, develop, and to contribute to their greatest potential. As a result, the working environments they created were designed to ensure workers thrived.<\/p>\n

The vast majority of managers I\u2019ve worked for, however, were nowhere near as secure in themselves. Concerned that the accomplishments of their employees could somehow outshine or diminish them, they found ways \u2013 often subtle \u2013 to limit people. And because they feared the repercussions of giving away their power to others, they greatly constrained the performance of the teams they led.<\/p>\n

The Dalai Lama has said that having compassion for oneself is the basis for developing care and concern for others. To clarify, he said that friendliness toward ourselves leads to unlimited care toward others.<\/p>\n

If you read Lead From The Heart, you know that I grew up with a psychologically abusive father who influenced me to be deeply and broadly self-critical. In order for me to heal all that damage, I\u2019ve had to work hard on being kinder to myself and far less judgmental. Overcoming an instinct to flog myself for my insecurities and human imperfections has been a life time\u2019s work.<\/p>\n

But all this effort has opened my eyes to what it takes to become an extraordinary leader. Be kind to yourself. Be less afraid of not being perfect. Resist being threatened by others and allow yourself to feel secure in yourself knowing you\u2019re doing the very best you can in any given situation.<\/p>\n

The greatest leaders I\u2019ve ever worked for were courageous; they had the inner strength to care for themselves \u2013 all so they could give the same support to everyone they were leading.<\/p>\n

What I\u2019ve learned: When you value yourself and value others you will create extraordinary results.<\/p>\n

If you would like to receive these blogs directly, please sign up here!<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

PS: \u00a0After this article was posted, all of the social media counters on our website mysteriously reverted to zeros — and all historical share counts were lost.<\/em>\u00a0\u00a0All links now are working!
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\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

While I\u2019ve only worked for a handful of truly inspiring leaders in my life, what this small group all shared was a deep belief in themselves and their abilities. They were extremely comfortable in their own skins and embodied a form of self confidence that repelled any and all fear of others succeeding at their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,14,15,16],"tags":[59,69,100,109,133,144,233],"class_list":["post-714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-heartleadershipinpractice","category-leadership","category-lifelessons","category-wisdomefromotherauthors","tag-dalai-lama","tag-emotional-intelligence","tag-heart","tag-human-performance","tag-leadership-skills","tag-management-skills","tag-wisdom"],"yoast_head":"\nUnconditional Acceptance Of Ourselves Makes Us Better Leaders - Mark C. 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