#HR #RRHH Making love and making personal #branding #leadership

Are you a successful leader? This is a difficult question to answer: No matter how good you think you are, the only evidence of leadership is whether people follow you. Self-serving bias distorts your perception of your own successes and failures. Even if you’re incredibly self-aware, you may have trouble with an objective assessment because your direct reports may only appear to be following — they don’t get an option to be physically present — and not every company conducts rigorous engagement surveys or 360-degree reviews.

So how can you gain a reasonably accurate understanding of your success as a leader? Try integrating three distinctive views.

A recent study concluded that gender inequality is costing the global economy $12 trillion annually, with North America accounting for 25 percent of that total followed by China’s 20-plus percent.

If diversity and gender equality have so much potential for improving business, why don’t we see more of it faster? What will be necessary to make it happen?

There are several kinds of responses to this question. The first is the “do it yourself” response, characterized by Sheryl Sandberg’s now-famous argument in her book, Lean In. Among other things, she challenges women to change their behaviors, to bolster their self-confidence and ambition, and become better job and wage negotiators while choosing a partner who can help share the load of a career.

Very few founders, startup CEOs, board members, investors, and others supporting the entrepreneurial community actively pursue and advocate disciplined, professional leadership development. This is an enormous missed opportunity.

Entrepreneurs, especially founders and startup CEOs, need not wait to be encouraged to do this work. They should not consider their own development as a nice-to-have, an indulgence, or an unnecessary expense. They certainly should not delay until their jobs are threatened by their poor performance. 

Here are seven reasons (among many) that every founder and entrepreneurial CEO should actively develop their leadership, and a question about each.

While many leaders rely on proven past methods (often learned in B-school), others are taking new approaches that help them transcend what they already know. These fresh methods help them handle the day-to-day, while becoming responsive to other things that matter.

One of these “new” methods is a coaching approach that has been used with individuals, now making its way into the C-suite.

“The ‘coach approach’ asks leaders to define who they want to be at this moment and in the future,” says Jennifer Antolak, president of Learning Journeys, a life coaching academy. “And it’s about helping others understand that we support their choices.”

When I started my first company, I hired people I knew and loved.  I thought, Why wouldn't I want to work with my friends all day?

In many cases that worked out fine. Then my company began to grow beyond my circle of friends. The talents required for success became a bigger priority than the camaraderie.

I was usually able to find people who fit the culture and the job description and whom I also enjoyed spending time with. But every once in a while the person I needed to hire just wasn't my cup of tea. And while we shared mutual respect, spending time with this person became a chore, as did the experience of managing him or her.

A little more than two years ago, Stanford GSB lecturer and serial board member David Dodson conducted an informal survey of company board members. He queried CEOs as well as the members, and compiled a list of best practices for these advisory panels.

The foundation of Sinek's work is his examination of the why, an exploration of who we are and what inspires or compels us to act. His early experience in advertising and his innate curiosity about the divide between successful and unsuccessful marketing campaigns led him to develop his own theory. This theory, which was developed out of his own struggle to comprehend his greater purpose, led him to the answer.

“I lost my passion for what I was doing,” he told me. “The reason I was in my malaise was because I knew what I did and how I did it, but I didn’t know why.” Human psychology is complex, and we are driven by competing, even contradictory, impulses of fear, desire, ambition, envy, and the need to connect. Why posits a clearing of the decks, a stripping down that sharpens our focus and helps us achieve a greater self-realization. “It was a tool that explained me,” he says.

Friedman profiles luminaries including Michelle Obama, Bruce Springsteen, and Sheryl Sandberg in his book and shows how they gradually became leaders. He shows the skills they exercised and how they integrate different parts of their life together.

Friedman says he chose subjects who possess what he calls the three principles of total leadership: "Being real, acting with authenticity and knowing your values and vision; being whole, respecting the whole person and knowing there are different parts of your work, community, and personal lives that affect each other; and being innovative, constantly learning and experimenting in new ways to get things done."

Sometimes scientific research teaches us things we might not want to know. That happened when organizational psychologists studied West Point cadets to learn what personal qualities were most likely to predict success. The No. 1 answer? Narcissism.

Think Napoleon and Steve Jobs. Narcissists achieve amazing things, usually by putting their needs and desires ahead of everything and everyone else. They'll also go to great lengths to achieve their goals. Most important, they can be great at getting others on board as well.