Are you a Leadership Frankenstein?

I don’t know why I didn’t see this sooner.I record my podcast using a Shure SM7B microphone.The Shure SM7B is an incredibly popular microphone for podcasters and I think most people use it because most people use it.It looks like a professional broadcast microphone, it sounds great, and, oh by the way, you’re going to see one (or more) in almost every video clip from a podcast.Most people aren’t going to do the homework to figure out what makes a great podcast mic. They are just going to do the thing they see other podcasters doing.I bring this up because we do the same thing as leaders.Instead of becoming more self-aware, or really trying to understand our people, we just do the things we see other leaders doing. You might not even know why you do some of the things you do. You’ve seen leaders you respect acting in a certain way, so you also act that way.But the way you show up as a leader can’t be a random construct born out of blindly adopting habits other leaders demonstrate.You can learn a lot from other leaders and adopt their best practices, but you have to know why you are doing it.Copying their work is a fantastic shortcut, but only if their work solves a problem relevant to you and your team..Becoming an Impossibly Effective leader isn’t about employing the greatest catalog of tips and tricks.It is about making intentional choices about how YOU will show up as a leader and adopting behaviors that help you become the leader you want to be. TRY THIS:Imagine that every person on your team is about to write a “leadership reference” for you to take into a new job search. Consider what you would like to see in those references and whether your current habits and behaviors support that outcome. What needs to be added to your repertoire? What needs to be removed? The more specific you are about the kind of leader you hope they see, the easier it will be to compare your current methods to a set of revised best practices.My free PDF, “The 5 Secrets of Impossibly Effective Teams,” will show you the simple leadership moves that help teams unlock their full potential and deliver outsized results—without burning out. Grab your copy now at geoffwelch.com/secrets