Venturing Into The Unknown: The Leadership Challenge
by Taking on a new leadership role is always a challenge. People move on leaving a challenge for whoever takes on the role next. It can often feel like venturing into the unknown, we have to make our own mark not simply try to emulate the incumbent. A leader will facilitate the aims and aspirations for those around them, yet facilitate this within a team context. Are you ready to venture into the unknown?
We face challenges on every day our lives most of us tend to fear the unknown.
Being in a leading position during much of one’s professional life; it is easy to assume that you have met a large percentage of the leadership challenges; yet having recently been asked to become VP of Education for the local Toastmasters chapter was quite an honour, yet at the same time it is quite a challenge. It is just like taking on a new professional role for the first time – possibly that fear of the unknown raising its head. Perhaps that little-devil inside saying “You will fail!” Yet isn’t this a large part of what life is all about? When we go to school for the first time we fear the unknown, however our parents knew there was nothing to fear, they had experienced it before us and had survived.
It is that fear which can act as a roadblock for some people in attaining their true potential. For some that fear can be paralysing and too much to handle, yet with the right support each person, including the agoraphobic, is able to push back the boundaries a little.
So when facing a new challenge how do we get past that fear? Normally it is about understanding the challenge ahead. The person who performed the role before has now gone and you are faced with discovering what needs to be done afresh. That can, for some, be a daunting task. Naturally enough any two people will respond to the challenge differently. Will one be right and one be wrong? No! They simply develop a different understanding of the needs and react differently to the situation at hand.
We can, ultimately, reach for the sky (and beyond) and obtain it. How we respond to each challenge builds our character as a leader. Leaders must remember that they have a team to support them in achieving their goals. No person can be strong in every aspect of the role they fill, that is why it is essential to build a team. The captain of a football team relies on the skills of each of the other players to build a strong team. Leaders need a team around them and that team is a balance of the strengths required to succeed.
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