How Can You Live Your Passion and Purpose as a woman in Leadership?
You were made for a purpose with a passion and a set of talents which have helped you realise your success to date.
You’ve been promoted into a leadership position most likely due to this collective set of giftings.
But let’s face it: leadership is hard.
And being a woman in leadership has its own unique challenges.
It takes guts, discipline, confidence and clarity of purpose to serve others. And even then, success is not guaranteed.
The world would have you believe that you’re not good enough, clever enough, well-spoken enough, assertive enough to do a good job in leading people.
And that is simply not true.
You are wonderfully and magnificently made – the problem is most of us are striving so hard that we do not take the time to acknowledge and celebrate our wins.
Missing Out - it doesn't have to be this way!
We are working so hard to just keep all those balls that make up our lives up in the air that we miss out on important opportunities to create and reinforce who we are and what makes us special.
Of course, our internal self-talk often also undermines and trips us up as well where we find ourselves agreeing with what other people say because we want to be accepted and liked or we have "woundedness" from our past that has created negative tape recordings in our brain:
These negative recordings lead to self-doubt and what I call “stinking thinking” which creates stuckness and overwhelm.
No. No!
This is not what you have been called to do with your one and only life.
So, let's find out what you have been called to do with your one and only life!
The Secret to Passion and Purpose in Leadership
The secret to leading with passion and purpose in leadership is to identify, recognise and learn to celebrate your strengths and to develop these.
Because your strengths are your “super powers”.
And they have been given to you, to achieve a very specific goal and purpose.
You were made to use your super-powers because they literally make you super-awesome at all sorts of tasks – and the reason you don’t notice them is because they come so easily to you that you overlook and under-estimate them.
Identifying Your Super-Powers
Consider the Following:
One: What are your top three strengths?
Two: Consider what you enjoy doing, that brings you satisfaction and a sense of completeness when you do it?
Three: List all those things you passionate about - that you wish you had more time to spend on
Four: What tasks can you spend hours on and yet it only feels like you started that task a second ago?
Five: Write down all those skills that you take for granted because they come so easily to you
Six: What feedback have you gotten from people around you, about what they believe are your strengths?
Comparison Kills Our Self-Esteem
The sad truth is that other people often know your "super-powers" before you do.
Instead of looking inward and recognising and identifying your super-powers, you look outward at others, comparing yourself to them and finding yourself lacking because you don't have that capability.
You are looking looking for that amazing skill that they have and that you’d really like so much more than what you have!
The truth is, we are all on different journeys, with different skill-sets, passions and purpose.
Examples of Passion and Purpose:
The reason that Sarah is brilliant at delivering polished presentations is because she has been called to challenge the people she works with so that they get kicked out of complacency;
And, the reason that Amanda is brilliant at spotting errors in logic and thinking is because her calling is to critically analyse and solve complex organisational issues that no one else has the patience or know how for.
Your skills, passions and super-powers have been designed with you in mind. No one else on the planet has exactly the same blend of these as you. Your job is to identify and own these so that you can leverage and grow them to become the best you, that you can be.
Consider those you work with: they are often quick to spot your "super-powers" and to comment on them. The people you work with will give you feedback about how amazing that “thing” you do is.
And you probably brush them off because you take that skill-set for granted, because it comes to easily and naturally to you.
The Lesson We Have to Learn
We have to learn to accept and love the strengths we have been given before looking outward. We have to learn to develop these because they are gifts that energise us and allow to keep on task.
So, how do we do this?
One of the first steps to learn more about your strengths, is to identify, get to know and develop your unique Signature Style as a leader - your specific set of skills, super-powers and passions that set us apart from those we work with.
We all have behaviours and traits which either help or hinder us – for sure. No two people are alike.
Comparison Kills Our Self-Esteem - and our passion and purpose too if we let it
Ready to Transform your leadership?
Set up a free discovery call with me and let's create an action plan tailored to your needs
Identifying Your Unique Signature "Flavour" As A woman in leadership
If you have any goal of being an effective leader, then your best place to start is to learn what your specific “flavour” is when it comes to your natural communication style. And I say natural, because so many of us have learnt how to “fake” our styles so that we become more acceptable to others.
And this is not wrong – sort of.
But, it does get in the way of us understanding that the original template we were made with for communicating with others, is the best one for us.
It’s the one that helps us to feel confident and powerful.
Its’ the style that allows us to get done all that we need to in a way that serves us and our particular “audience” well.
And that’s an important point: your communication “flavour” is not for everyone.
Leadership is not a one size fits all affair.
No.
Your unique gifts can only be shared with those who respect, recognise and celebrate what you bring to the table.
Think About Your Leadership “Flavour” this Way:
Lets pretend for a moment that you are a specific meal in a buffet. When people come to the buffet, there will be many who like you, a few who put you on their plate but after a few bites decide you are a bit rich for their liking and a few who don’t and will ignore you.
But, there will be those who can only eat your “meal” because they are allergic to the others.
If your meal wasn’t being “served” then they would go hungry.
And, if they could only eat at your buffet, and you didn’t show up for a period of time, they may well starve to death!
Leadership is like this in a lot of ways.
You have to show up as you – you can’t hide and try to show up as another “meal” because then you wouldn’t be you and you’d be letting down those who really need what you have to offer.
In Summary
One: Stepping into your passion and purpose in leadership is hard work that begins with inward introspection and reflection.
Two: The way you show up says a lot about you: you’ve got to own who you are, warts and all.
Three: Learning to identify your strengths will give you better clarity on what areas and industries are best suited for your particular personality and skills-set and passion.
Four: Your job is to look inward and discover, delight in and develop your strengths, passions to achieve your purpose.
You were made for greatness beautiful leader.
Do you believe it?
All my best and I'll,
See you at the top!
Questions to Consider:
What negative or “stinking thinking” thoughts play in your head when you are under pressure and stress?
What are 2 “super-powers or gifts” do you take for granted that others have commented on in your life?
What’s your biggest leadership challenge right now – and how could you solve it with your gifts?
Ready to Transform your leadership?
Set up a free discovery call with me and let's create an action plan tailored to your needs
