Today’s most impactful leaders, from the President of the United States to the Pope himself, weren’t born with their desires to lead. The feeling was cultivated, encouraged, developed, and acted upon over time until the specific goal was set and achieved. What this means is anyone can accomplish greatness and lead others forth into greatness if you can figure out what drives you. In business, good leaders are important. Leaders recognize their team’s needs and then apply the correct leadership style. Before they can do that though, they need to discover internally what drives them as a leader. Whether it be power, money, control, a desire to affect change, or the need to help others - all are powerful reasons that drive a leader.
New Quest is a leadership coaching and consulting firm that trains business leaders in person and online. Servicing the northwestern USA and Western Canada region, we want to discuss 4 ways to find your leadership drive.
As mentioned above, some people can identify problems in the community or on a larger scale, the world, and seek to address that problem. Whether it be a lack of a particular service or the creation of life-saving medicine, the desire to affect change in one’s environment can help you harness your strengths and hyper-focus on your goals. This hyper-focus is your guidance on discovering what drives you. Analyze the way you live, how you eat, how you work, and use that to assist you in your quest to find what you’re passionate about. Your passion is your drive.
In some cases, raw desire is enough to spur great leaders to rise from the ranks. Do you have something you want? What does your path look like to get it? Is anything in your way? Internally examining your desires can be an effective tool for finding what drives you as a leader. Internal examination of the things you want, the places you want to go, the vision of how things could be are all important concepts that only you can decide to act on. If it’s powerful enough for you to act, it may be where your drive is coming from.
Leadership is about the guiding hand and shared values. Great leaders have a team rallied behind them, all sharing similar beliefs, whether they be the company’s mission or your personal goals. Finding your motivation to lead can come from your team. Ask them what they feel are your greatest strengths, and then ask them what you can improve on. Your team can also answer why they think you’re fit for the job and help you identify your strengths. Your strengths, whether they be courage, selflessness, or integrity, etc., are all building blocks to better understand your motivations.
If you’re struggling to identify what’s really motivating you to wake up early, work harder than everyone else, guide, mentor, and discipline others, sometimes, a little research is all that it takes to answer why. Speak with others who have held your same position, or others in lateral industries, or even those in positions above you, and find out what commonalities you share. Ask them why they lead. Ask them what pushes them forward, and then see if that resonates with you. You may find your leadership drive mirrors those who have come before you.
New Quest specializes in leadership coaching and consulting. In particular, Reza Rahmani, a titan of his industry, has over 20 years of experience guiding and leading others. He has held positions as a senior-level executive coach as well as Senior HR Generalist at Automotive Fuel Cell Cooperation where he created a coaching and leadership development program that improved employee engagement levels by 25%, increased leadership effectiveness results by 300%, and reduced employee turnover by 100%.
To learn more about our leadership training and development services, visit our website and contact us about in-person or online training for your leadership team.
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Shane Jensen