I held a seminar not long ago for a group of youth about leadership. They were all at the end of their teens and students at an entrepeneurial school ready to head out into business life. I talked to them about personal leadership and how a good leader starts from inside. With leading himself or herself first and then leading others.
As we were nearing the end of the two hour seminar that had been filled with theories, practical examples, advice and lively discussions on the topic of responsibility and the ability to affect the outcome of your life and leadership, a question came up.
What would be three most important aspects of a good leadership? What three things would a leader need to focus on most to be able to lead effectively. I then formulated what I call The Triad of Sustainable Leadership. It is the shape of a triangle and holds three key aspects for sustainable leading.
At the bottom corner of the triangle it says “Take care of your health”. As far as we know until science has taken a few more leaps forward we only get one body and need to care for it. Health is not just a physical thing, it is also about your mind, your relationships with those you care deeply for, your finances and how you contribute to the bigger picture. A friend told me, if you do not have your health you do not have anything. This holds true also for leadership.
Second, in the upper left corner, it says “Know yourself”. This is the longest relationship you will most likely have in your life, the one with yourself. Get to know you. With self insight comes self esteem that is then the foundation which self confidence stands upon.
Thirdly, in the upper right corner, I wrote “Focus on improving the lifes of others”. Givers get is an old saying, so true here also. If you focus on making the life of others better you will be rewarded beyond measure. Buckminister Fuller said that the purpose of life is to add value to this generation and those that follow.
So there it goes, the triad of sustainable leadership!
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