I was inspired to read the book SPARK after hearing one of the authors, Angie Morgan, speak at the 2016 Texas Conference for Women. She was a very motivational speaker and clearly conveyed the need and benefit for more leadership development in the business world. The book is a quick read with a lot of good reminders and tips that you can use immediately and every day. Here is a quick summary I wrote of what you'll learn in Spark: How to Lead Yourself and Others to Greater Success:
Sparks are people who recognize that they don’t have to accept what’s given to them. They can do things differently to create the change they’d like to see. They’re defined by their actions, commitment, and will, not by job title. You make you a leader.
Invest in building your leadership skills and develop inner confidence, commitment, and drive to see results through at all costs. Develop the capacity to learn and apply behaviors that grant influence, inspire others, and drive results. A leader is someone who influences outcomes and inspires others.
Key elements of leadership are character, credibility, accountability, integrity, vision, service, and confidence – and expressing them consistently. To learn more about defining your values and vision and how to communicate those to others in the digital space, check out our previous Women in STEM blog on Personal Branding. Spark qualities include being credible to others so that they trust you, holding yourself accountable to your challenges, making good decisions when you’re feeling pressure to act, expressing your confidence in clutch moments, and bringing a group of individuals together to form a full and cohesive team.
Leaders need to be open to feedback. The more self-aware you are, the greater your ability to own your shortcomings and correct them before they affect others. Learn how to take professional criticism; welcome and appreciate it. Learn how to deliver feedback to others in a way that helps improve the team and the organization. Many of us don’t spend enough time reflecting on our limitations and don’t check our mindset to ensure that we’re poised for development. When you take the time to challenge your assumptions, you might discover quickly that you have the talents necessary to take the next big leap in your career.
As a leader, you must understand your personal/inner values and how these manifests in your character, which in turn, determines whether people trust you. Our images, beliefs and ideas about ourselves have a powerful influence on our behavior. If you exhibit a disconnect between your actions and your values, it can gradually lead to disappointment and erode peoples trust in you. To avoid the disconnect between values and actions, personal character development must be taken seriously.
Credibility is the foundation of your leadership style. It’s the combination of your character and your performance level. Credibility is solely in the eyes of the beholder. People view you as dependable, trustworthy and committed. There are four keys to credibility to master; understanding and meeting the standards of others, having a narrow “say-do gap”, communicating your intent and expectations to others, and holding others accountable when they fail to meet standards. All four keys have an element of being proactive and being present, and not falling into a dulling routine.
Sparks demonstrate accountability and resist the powerful human instinct to place blame elsewhere. You need to be responsible for your performance – only you can do that. And only you have the power to improve our performance. It might be uncomfortable reflecting on a weakness but it is truly the only way to formulate a solution going forward. Resist the temptation to place blame and instead focus on continuously examining mistakes, discussing problems openly, and applying hard lessons learned.
Sparks are the thinkers and the doers who envision what a better future looks like and take actions that lead themselves – and others – toward it. What are you doing intentionally right now to achieve the vision you have for yourself, personally and professionally? Your vision helps to stay motivated, stay focused and avoid feeling disengaged. Sometimes to accelerate your success you first need to slow down deliberately to gain clarity around what is truly the best use of your time and talents. All progress begins with a decision, which is followed by action. When you do things on purpose, you get the most joy and benefit out of the experiences, because you’re giving it your full attention and presence.
Behavior based leadership is rooted in awareness. Sparks anticipate the needs of those around them and don’t make people ask for help – they just help when they have the opportunity and resources to do so. Sparks are sincere with their intentions and ensure their motive is to help the person and focus on empowering them; providing resources, giving information and helping others become successful.
One quality that will get you even further and help you capitalize on whatever life presents you is confidence. What you believe will have a direct impact on what you achieve. The right attitude, coupled with the right internal dialogue, can make things happen in life. Further, surround yourself with positive role models. They will help keep you grounded especially when experiencing vulnerability like when developing new habits and taking on more challenges.
Most goals aren’t reach in one attempt – achieving excellence through consistency takes time. What often stands between you and the better future you envision for yourself is simply a lack of routine or habit, which can easily be addressed by planning and execution. Long term goals require passion and perseverance. Preparation and consistent action will fuel your results.
And lastly, Sparks have the responsibility to inspire more Sparks, to expand their influence and to develop leaders in their midst. Small actions can initiate a leadership movement around you. You can spark change.
Online resources to go with the book can be found at www.sparkslead.us. The authors have also put tons of additional resources on their website, www.leadstar.us