Overview: Challenges motivate mature leaders because they understand challenges always bear the gift of opportunity. Challenges force leaders out of their comfort zones, where life begins, and opportunities abound. By dealing with daily challenges of leadership, intelligent leaders grow and gain motivation.
Leadership is about overcoming challenges. You lead others because you deal well with such challenges, navigating yourself and others through possible pitfalls better than someone else could. That’s why you are the leader.
When done right, leadership is rewarding and fulfilling. It can never be easy, however. A leader’s path is fraught with internal and external challenges. That’s why intelligent leadership capable of inspiring and pushing others to fulfill their potential takes guts.
Why Big Challenges Motivate True Leaders
For a mature leader who understands the power of intelligent leadership predicated on meaningful relationships, trust, authenticity, and honesty, challenges are opportunities. More daunting challenges offer leaders opportunities to learn about themselves and develop emotional intelligence and self-awareness that make them the leaders they want to be.
Leadership maturity perceives setbacks and failures as steppingstones to success. The same is true of challenges. Every challenge requires you to leave your comfort zone and embark on journeys of discovery that seldom fail to bring to light better versions of yourself.
Mature leaders understand how different types of challenges present them with different types of opportunities for personal and professional growth.
Different Types of Challenges Create Different Types of Opportunities
Internal leadership challenges entail overcoming internal hurdles leaders’ own feelings, thoughts, values, and vulnerabilities pose.
External leadership challenges have to do with skill gaps and problems arising from team dynamics.
Leadership coaching creates motivated leaders. A skilled leadership coach helps leaders overcome internal and external challenges by improving their inner and outer-core leadership competencies.
Internal Leadership Challenges and the Opportunities They Carry
Internal leadership challenges emerge as the result of inner-core leadership competency gaps. To overcome such challenges, leaders have to overcome themselves in many ways.
Humility
On paper, it seems easy for successful leaders to maintain humility. Being a successful source of inspiration for others can boost one’s self-confidence and ego beyond healthy levels, however.
Mature leaders don’t fall into the traps their minds spring. With the help of leadership coaching, even somewhat immature leaders can see the value their teams contribute to their success.
Facing Fear
Leaders have to face and conquer fears every day. Some may fear making the wrong decisions. Others feel like impostors whose cover will be blown. Others may fear change and the adversity it could bring.
Executive coaching helps leaders recognize, diffuse, and deal with fears. The best leaders can handle their own fears while helping others handle theirs.
Showing Vulnerability
Intelligent leaders know they don’t have all the answers, but they don’t hide their weaknesses. By letting team members know they need help, they empower teams and strengthen their positions at the helm of organizations through authenticity.
Being invulnerable is easier than undertaking the challenge of vulnerability. Executive coaching can help leaders master ways of being authentic without compromising their authority.
External Leadership Challenges and the Opportunities They Bring
Having conquered their internal skill gaps and weaknesses, leaders deal with problems concerning team dynamics and organizational culture.
Coaching and Mentoring Team Members
To keep employees engaged and motivated, leaders provide them with growth opportunities, challenges, and guidance. They must also spot potential and recognize strengths.
Active listening and making a genuine effort are skills leadership coaching holds in high regard.
Keeping Employees Motivated
To plant the seeds of motivation in employees, provide them with purpose. People who understand the purpose of their work are happy and more willing to assume psychological ownership of what they do.
Executive coaches encourage clients to formulate clear and concise organizational purposes and visions they can share with followers.
Leadership is a choice. It is the choice of a person who understands that the greatest opportunities to achieve motivated leadership while inspiring and helping people succeed reside in the challenges that pave this road.