4 Ways to be Intentional as a Leader today!
Do you do your best work when you fly by the seat of your pants? Not me! I’m a planner, in fact I don’t wing ANYTHING!
In order to show up as a strong leader and role model, I have to be intentional about it. It doesn’t come naturally but when I make it a priority it positively impacts the team.
Here are 4 ways you can be more intentional as a leader today!
- Map it Out!
Start your day off thinking about and writing down who you want to show up as that day. Perhaps it’s thinking about your phone calls, interactions, coaching with employees or meetings. How would your best self show up? Decide early in the day while you’re fresh how you can be most effective as a leader. You can also check out our super popular Intentional Journals here: https://www.growwithsigmau.com/books.
- Set Intentions before Interactions
Oprah famously starts each meeting asking, “What are the intentions of this meeting?” This is a great way to gain clarity to avoid timewasting and ensure everyone is aligned from the get-go. You may want to start meetings the same way or if you have to have a difficult conversation, think through your intentions.
- What do I want from this conversation?
- Who do I want to show up as?
- What would my best self say?
- How would I show up as an exceptional leader in the face of adversity?
Sometimes, I will quickly say a prayer as simple as “Keep me open and curious as I enter this conversation.” Mindfulness matters and positively impacts our effectiveness as leaders!
- Set Reminders!
As a Certified High-Performance Coach™ one of the methods we use for being intentional is setting triggers throughout the day to remind us of who we want to be. This sounds so simple, but I went 43 years without doing it and once I started this habit it definitely created more awareness. What you want to do is think about three words that would describe you as your best self. How would you want your team describing you as a leader? Think of a leader who you admire. How would you want them to describe you? Now jot those three words down. Think about why you wrote them down. Why do they mean so much to you? The next step is to take action to cement this new thinking. Grab your phone and add two alarms during your day. Set one for 10:00 a.m. and one for 2:00 p.m. and the alarm should have your three words written down. For me, my alarm goes off twice a day and it’s a gut check. Am I showing up as 1. Disciplined, 2. Joyful and 3. Kind. If not, it helps me to pause and refocus my energy and intentions.
- Reflect and Refine
The greatest learning comes from reflecting and refining. So take time at the end of each day to review how you showed up. Were you happy with how you showed up? Was there a situation you wish you handled differently? Rate yourself and learn from the errors and celebrate your intentionality!
In a digitally crazed and high-pressure world, being intentional is difficult but not impossible and oh so necessary. You can be intentional rather than reactive starting today! If you have any other tips on intentional leadership, please share below!
