Why You Need a Leadership Gym

How important is awareness for bringing about change?

Very important, right?

I disagree.

Show me one smoker who doesn't know that smoking causes cancer. Show me one obese person who doesn't know that salad is better than pizza.

Awareness clearly isn't the problem.

So why do we assume leadership is any different?

Most leaders believe that once they become aware of what they need to change, somehow the change will happen.

Such wishful thinking.

Changing your own behaviour is arguably one of the hardest things in life. We want everyone else to change, but when it comes to ourselves, suddenly we have a PhD in excuses.

“I am Number 9. My anger is justified.”

“I'll start delegating when I hire better people.”

“Apunich Bhagwan hai. Why should I change?”

And then nothing changes.

Nobody tracks their leadership

Think about it. We track our bank balance because money is important. We track our sleep because health is important. We track our weight because fitness is important.

But how many leaders track their leadership? How many know whether they are actually becoming better leaders month after month? How many have a deliberate action plan for becoming a better leader — not just building a better business?

And that is why so many leaders remain mediocre.

The gym is the metaphor

I believe becoming a great leader requires the same discipline as going to the gym. No muscles develop without repetition. Leadership muscles are no different. You don't go to the gym once, lift some weights and come back with six-pack abs. Leadership doesn't work that way either.

You need a leadership workout. Every day. For months and years.

What do you actually do in a Leadership Gym?

First, read the best research on leadership and relate it to your own life. Don't just consume leadership content. Ask yourself, “Where does this show up in my behaviour?”

Second, spend a few minutes every day asking yourself, “What could I have done better today?” Not what did my team do badly. Not what did my boss do badly. What could I have done better?

Third, track your progress. Ask yourself, “What did I do today that I would not have done before?” If you don't track improvement, you will never know whether you are improving.

And finally, pick one to three leadership habits you want to change and track them every day. Maybe it is listening instead of interrupting. Delegating instead of controlling. Staying calm instead of losing your temper. Giving better feedback. Whatever it is, make it visible and measurable.

The fat called busy

There is one big reason leaders don't do any of this.

They are “busy.”

But if you want to shed the fat called “busy” from your life, you probably need the Leadership Gym even more.

Being busy is not a leadership achievement. In many cases, it is a symptom of poor leadership. If everything needs your attention, every decision needs your approval and every problem lands on your desk, you haven't built a great organisation. You have built an organisation that needs you for everything.

The muscles you build in the Leadership Gym are called effectiveness.

The goal is not to work harder. It is to become better at creating results through yourself and through other people, with less effort and less dependence on you.

And yet, how many leaders actually do a leadership workout?

Almost nobody.

And that is your biggest clue if you don't want to be “nobody”.