I love helping many organizations “unlock” themselves and grow. It is exciting to see leaders break through, especially if I know they’ve been struggling and straining for years.

What is the big secret that helps leaders get to the next level? They change something. Always. The change they make is almost always personal. And the personal change triggers an organizational change.

Personal development is leadership development. Leadership development is organizational development.

If you want your organization to “get to the next level” – whatever that means to you – the answer starts with personal development.

Some leaders love this. They love the fact that the answer lies in the one thing they have the most control over (themselves).

Some leaders don’t love this. They don’t like the idea that they might need to change. Or that they might even have something to change.

Why is there resistance to change – especially when it leads to growth?

In my experience, when a leader resists personal growth, it boils down to two reasons: Fear or arrogance.

Fear:  Many leaders carry fear. Fear of not measuring up, being seen as weak, being seen as “less”, being found out for not knowing everything, fear of making a mistake…

Leaders have a tendency to bolster their self-image with successes, accomplishments. This makes sense. I’m not immune to it either but it’s a shaky foundation for a stable self-image. Why? The more someone achieves, the more there is to lose. Success (especially if measured through accolades) is difficult to sustain. Fear of failure often grows along with success. It can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Arrogance: Arrogance is a deception. It’s the perception that I am somehow more valuable or better than someone else. When I allow arrogance space, it distorts my perspective. Over time, the only thing (or person) that matters is me. My vision. My risks. My goals. My efforts.

Fear and arrogance: Often hand-in-hand

Enormously arrogant leaders are often also enormously insecure. They might express it differently than some. But it is still there and it holds them back.

Where the work needs to be done:

Identity: The self-image of a leader determines much of what a leader can accomplish. A healthy self-image for a leader includes two central ingredients:

• A sense of acceptance or worth: When people describe a “good” leader, they use words like, “courageous”, “humble”, “caring”, and “honest”. These traits are naturally expressed by leaders who are comfortable with who they are. These leaders aren’t easily threatened. They don’t feel they need to prove themselves.

• A sense of self-efficacy: Self-efficacy is the belief that we can act and achieve results. There is a mature confidence, accepting both effort and risk. But also believing that intentional actions can achieve intentional results.

Read more about how to build a healthy self-image and a strong sense of self-efficacy here.

Vision: Most people are natural visionaries. The problem is most people only exercise this negatively – through worry or anxiety. They easily imagine what might go wrong.

A natural result of a healthy identity (as defined above) is the emergence of a positive vision – or a picture of a desirable future. There is a self-reinforcing dynamic here. Small visions pursued and accomplished reinforce a leader’s sense of self-efficacy, which then allows a leader to pursue and accomplish a larger vision.

Read more about how to develop a positive vision here.

Self-Discipline: Structure creates freedom. This is an unwelcome fact for many leaders, especially entrepreneurs. And structure depends on the self-discipline of a leader.

Every growing organization hits a phase where it is no longer possible to be everywhere at once. A leader can’t see everything that’s going on. Structure is needed. It helps identify success metrics, for clear and consistent communication, to ensure consistent processes and results, to be able to track results, and so on.

Many leaders struggle with putting structures into place. They like being able to do what they want, how and when they want. But when they are self-disciplined, they find that the freedom they want is only achievable by building structure. Which requires self-discipline.

Read more about key structures you need in your organization.

Trust: Trust comes from knowing someone will do what they say they will do. It’s the ability to count on the character, reliability, or quality of work from someone. Leaders often fear being taken advantage of. Or someone’s work not measuring up. So they don’t delegate authority to others. This is one of the primary reasons why organizations stagnate. Because they don’t trust, they can’t widen their organizational stance and grow.

Trust becomes much easier when there are good structures in place to help you track what is going on. But it also has to come from a place of willingness. To grow, a leader has to be willing to trust others. Which means making yourself vulnerable to others. Which isn’t easy. But it is what allows growth.

Read more about building trust here.

Your growth makes everything grow.

Take a moment for an introspective coffee break. It might change everything for you:

• Is there something about how you see yourself that is holding you (and those you lead) back?
  • If so, what will you do about it?
• What kind of vision do you tend to have?
  • What positive vision do you need to pursue?
• Where are you resisting structure?
  • How is that preventing future freedom?
• Who (or what) do you struggle to trust?
  • What can you do to give an opportunity for trust to grow?

Take good care,

Christian

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There are 𝟭𝟮 𝗰𝗿𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 to ask before accepting a new CEO position. Do you know what they are?  Instantly download my free e-book here.

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Vision Building Sprints

If you or your team are wrestling with defining your vision and would like help, I’m offering the opportunity for a “Vision Sprint”. This is a dynamic calibrating exercise. We will tightly dial in on your vision for the year and the key steps you need to take to get there. I’m offering either individual sessions ($2500) or team sessions ($4000).

Contact me at christian@christianmuntean.com if interested in learning more or setting up a time.

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The Successful New CEO – FREE BOOK OFFER
As an executive coach, I’ve found that the experiences for new executives (or experienced executives in new roles) tend to touch on familiar themes. No one’s situation is the same. But there are common principles that, when followed, do guide executives to success. I introduce those core principles in my new book, The Successful New CEO. I’d like to give you a free copy (just pay shipping)!

The book is divided into four parts:

• Becoming an Executive: Leaders can only lead out of who they are. How do you become the kind of person who successfully and gracefully inhabits this role?
• Seven Essential Executive Skills: The skills that earned you this new role may not be the ones that you need in the role. What are the key leadership skills that become even more important at the executive level?
• Leading Your Leadership Team: More than likely, you’ll be leading other leaders. How do you lead a confident, effective leader? How do you build a team out of leaders?
• First Things: Where do you start? How do you quickly build credibility and engagement? What is too fast or too slow?

The goal of The Successful New CEO is to help you quickly gain the confidence of your team, successfully address the issues you will discover, score early wins, and set a course for a fruitful future.

If you’d like to see how this book will benefit you or someone you know, I’d like to make it available to you for free! Click Here.

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Find the value of your company with my free assessment tool: The Value Builder System

The Value Builder System™ is a 13-minute online questionnaire that evaluates your business on the eight factors that contribute more to its attractiveness and value. These factors are scored on a scale of 1-100. Businesses that score over 80 are likely to command 70%-100% higher value than others.

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THE LEADERSHIP COACH Podcast

In my podcast, THE LEADERSHIP COACH, we explore effective, high impact and enjoyable leadership. We talk about personal development and the attributes that all effective leaders possess. I interview other leadership experts who share their knowledge and tips to help you build the confidence to lead and learn the habits of good decision-making.

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Opportunities

Free Resource: How To Accomplish More Without Doing More is a workbook I created to walk leaders through a process of helping you own your calendar, liberate your time, and still get more done. Download it for free!

Executive and Leadership Coaching: Do you feel overwhelmed? Are you not getting the results you expect from the effort you are putting in? Do you find yourself facing similar challenges time and time again? Would you like to change specific ways of relating or reacting? If you would like to experience predictable, measurable growth Contact me.

Profitable Exit Strategy Workshop: Are you a business owner or partner? Are you over 55? Are you starting to think about exiting your business or active management in the next 3-5 years?

• Are you curious about what your business might be worth?
• Would you like to discover the specific steps you need to take to increase its value and become highly attractive to a buyer?
• Are you planning on handing it over to family or employees and you want to ensure long-term success?

If so, contact me now