6. YOU SETTLE FOR IMITATION BECAUSE YOU’RE SCARED OF INNOVATION
Insecure leadership makes you feel like you’re stuck in middle school, forever.
Are your clothes cool enough? What about your hair? Do you have what it takes to go to the next level? Probably not…so you just copy whoever you determine the cool kid is right now.
Imitation kills innovation. You won’t innovate when you’re imitating.
As hard as it is to believe, God made you to be you for a reason.
He gave you your voice, not someone else’s.
He gave you your body, not someone else’s.
And he gave you your mind, not the mind of another leader.
It’s fine to have heroes. It’s great to learn from other people who are masters at what they do.
But pretty much all the people you admire got to where they’re at not because they were trying to be someone else, but because they took the gifting God had given them and developed it.
Learn from others. Leverage what God gave you.
In the process, you’ll develop your voice. God longs to hear it. After all, he created you.
7. YOU’RE ASSUMING AGE WILL MAKE THIS BETTER
So maybe you’re a young leader or mid-way through your leadership run, and you think when I hit 40 (or when I hit 50), all my internal angst will be resolved, right?
Wrong.
If you live insecure, you’ll die insecure. You don’t outlive insecurity. You outgrow it.
Working on your insecurity today will help you become more secure tomorrow. There’s no other way around it.
The only way to become a more secure leader is to grow.
HOW DO YOU BECOME MORE SECURE? (PRACTICAL HELP)
If you recognize yourself in this post, just know there’s help and there’s hope.
I tackle some critical issues leaders face my book Didn’t See It Coming: Overcoming the 7 Greatest Challenges That No One Expects and Everyone Experiences.
One of them is pride. Far more leaders grow proud because of insecurity than by narcissism.
I know…you’re thinking…but I’m insecure. I feel bad about myself. How can that be pride?
Well, if pride is an obsession with self, then (surprisingly) insecure people qualify as proud. After all, insecurity makes you think about you all the time.
In Didn’t See It Coming, I not only outline how insecurity shows up in your life, I show you how to overcome it.
I also tackle other issues leaders struggle with like cynicism, burnout, irrelevance (and more). You don’t have to let your past or present determine your future.
You can get your copy of Didn’t See It Coming here (hardcover, AudioBook or Kindle) and once again (or for the first time) discover how to thrive in life leadership.
WHAT’S YOUR EXPERIENCE?
What signs of insecurity have you noticed?
This article on the insecure leader originally appeared here.
