Leading is a privilege, not a trophy!

When I remember my motivation at the beginning of my career for working in HR, it makes me laugh, as much as my answer to the question “What do you want to become when you grow up?” Me: “An ice cream seller or a professional dog hugger”. 

You guessed! It was “working with people!”. If only I knew how beautifully difficult that is!

What is even funnier is that it turned out I am actually good at it. But hospitality? Well, this one chose me; I had no merit there!

And then, leadership happened! 

For me, this was the first step and the highest level of learning about myself (when I thought I knew everything already, at 28) and myself as having an impact on others! (this and parenting, in my opinion!)

I've been in situations where I was:

- new in the leadership role;

- the new leader of an old team;

- the only lady leader on the team;

- the leader of a newly formed team;

- a leader in very different cultural contexts; 

- a leader younger than most of my reporting team members; 

- a leader in a multicultural team (7 nationalities in a team of 7)

It’s useless to say that I made way too many mistakes along the way, attempting to calibrate all these different perspectives! 

What always worked for me, and allowed me not only to adjust and thrive but also learn and become, was this mindset – to my team members, my leaders, and my clients (and my 3yearsOld, can you imagine?): 

👀 “I’m sorry, let’s talk about it!” and “I need help/help me understand, how can I do better?” (in different formulas, of course, depending on my level of emotional maturity at the time). 

From all the leadership situations I was privileged enough to experience, I learned that:

I have to protect my team;

I must let my vulnerabilities show;

I need to know the depth of their work;

I am responsible for good and bad outcomes;

I have to be the first one to do what I ask the team to do;

It’s crucial that I listen, I recognize, and I offer fair feedback;

How to give up on some people and how NOT to give up on other people;

All I know now is that it’s all about them, the team members, they are your superpower! 

As leaders, we can only choose to use it wisely or … to waste it.

❓ Do you agree or have you found a different approach