11 reasons your inner voice is holding you back from being a great First Time leader.

11 reasons your inner voice is holding you back from being a great First Time leader.

Your inner voice, the self talk that we all do, can limit or propel you into your leadership. This is especially so if you intend to be a great First Time leader. I could tell you to just take control of what you say to yourself, but I understand it is difficult to be aware and to identify them, unless someone points it out to you.

To help you with that, I am going to share with you 11 examples of your inner voice holding you back from being a great First-Time Leader, and what you can do about them.

When you are new to leadership, anyone who is in a formally appointed position managing a team seems to be a leader. I know. I have been there.

You just do not know enough to discern between someone who is a true leader, and someone who is simply occupying a position of authority (a manager or supervisor). A leader is someone who brings others to their success.

If someone whom you see as a leader is giving you negativity and not building you up, then that person is not a leader and you have to be careful not to adopt this person as your role model.

Leadership traits are human traits, so you already have the capability to lead. Believe in that. Do not let the negative opinions of those you respect stop you in your own leadership journey.

You are at the start of your journey. There is a lot to learn, and the gap between your actual ability and what you expect of yourself is wide.  You are not the first leader to say to themselves ‘I don’t know how’. You will not be the last. Every single leader that I have spoken with have said this to themselves.

Here is the thing. No one is expecting you to have all the answers, and there will be times when you just don’t know. It is your job to find the answers, so that you will know and then you can lead your team forward.

This was a question I asked myself. Repeatedly. I have not officially led a team before starting First Time Leadership, so who was I to tell other how to lead. But that’s the thing. Who am I not to? What frightens me was how many unknowns there was ahead of me, and I could only see the next step forward.

I did what I could and focused on taking the next step, however small that step was. Eventually I reached a point whereby I realized leadership is a mindset, and that I had what it takes to be a leader. I say this to you.

You just need to take one step forward at a time in your leadership journey, and eventually you will tell yourself that you too can be a First Time Leader.

There is an element of risk taking when it comes to being a leader, because you are sailing into uncharted waters and asking others to follow. There will be mistakes and failure along the way because no leader is ever perfect.

The question to ask yourself is ‘Have you done everything reasonably possible in that moment to lead others to success?’ If so, then know that a failure is only a failure when you don’t learn from it. Focus on learning from them as an opportunity to improve.

When you witness the lack of leadership at the senior level of your organization, it can frustrate and demotivate anyone from the desire to lead. There are many things in life that we cannot control, yet there are many other things that we can.

You cannot change how others lead or not lead, but you can control how you lead. Senior management might not be the type of leadership that you wanted, but you can be the leader that others want. Think about that.

When you choose to lead others to their success, you will stand out. Some may approve of what you are trying to do, while others may not. If others choose to be enemies of yours because of jealousy or for whatever other reason, that is entirely their choice.

What is important is that when you are leading for the greater good, stay focused on the benefits that you bring to the many rather than on the negativity of a few.

In a team, there can only be one formally appointed manager. However, there can be many leaders within the team. If you feel that others have not given you a chance to lead, I just want to say that all of us can be leaders in the work that we do, and we do not need the approval of senior management to do so.

I believe it is important to actually start showing leadership and delivering results, and eventually convincing those above us to have greater confidence in our leadership abilities themselves.

Self-belief, simply put, is how you see yourself, and comes from knowing who you are and your unique leadership approach. You have to believe in your own ability to bring others to success, because there are times when people do need help to transform their ideas and vision into reality.

You may not be able to see every single step along the way, but you have to believe in your own ability to lead others to take that next necessary step, however small it may be.

Self-confidence Is how we project ourselves to the world, and is typically the result of overcoming challenges, or improving on our skills and knowledge. We can learn to be more self-confident.

For example: the more you learn about leadership, take on new responsibilities, and learn from failures, those will give you experiences, and eventually you will be more self-confident.

The more you know and have experienced, the more confident you will be. There is no other way.

Do not wait until you’ve been promoted to lead a team before learning how to lead. Start learning how to lead now. If you show that you have what it takes to lead when you are still a team member, then the transition to becoming a leader of a team in their work will be a lot easier.

There is a lot to learn about leadership, so the sooner you start the better. 

Leadership means responsibilities and commitment. Commitment is required because you have to walk the leadership journey and put in the time and effort to be a better leader, despite all the mistakes and failures that you will face along the way.

After all, the level of your leadership determines the success of the people you lead. For now, commit to take the next step. That is all you need.

I hope you were able to relate to at least one of these 11 reasons your inner voice is holding you back from being a great First Time leader. By taking the recommended actions at the end of each example, you can propel yourself to the next step of your leadership journey.