Written by: Shawn Singleton II, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
What is leadership? The answer to that question varies depending on who you ask. At its core, leadership is rooted in the measure of a person's character against adversity, success, and opposition. Regardless of the outcome that came from their oversight, their effectiveness becomes a measure of their competency to make high-level decisions accurately. This is where Reshape Your Thinking steps in with an objective evaluation framework for executives and company leaders alike by looking at four key areas.
Unfortunately, many of us tend to limit this way of thinking to individuals in executive positions, other professional leadership roles, and those aspiring to be in those roles. However, in my experience in coaching several leaders, personal and organizational, I developed a framework based on several occasions that those high-level decision-makers shared behind the reason for their sustainable and repeatable success. It's the secret to what most executive leaders focus on because they understand it affects their effectiveness in their personal and professional leadership roles.
A framework that allows you to successfully create "tunnel vision" towards your life's goals without disrupting your overall performance...
One aspect of this framework starts with Acknowledgment. The primary focus is understanding that grief is not limited to tragedies or loss. Grief is an emotion that can be experienced outside of those moments. You feel like giving up—the moments when you were anticipating what was about to happen; that your breakout moment is vastly approaching. Only you run into another issue that throws you off track once again and places you back into the perpetual cycle.
When you fail to acknowledge grief, you feel deflated as if you're in a spiral, losing control of your life, and begin to blame yourself or your environment for why certain things are, which creates a deep feeling of discomfort. It's in this moment you feel as if you have to do something to fix it before your life falls apart even more. When, in fact, the best thing you can do is take a moment and do nothing. It's what I discovered as the next point in the leadership framework, Assess.
Stephen Moeller, a Grief Recovery Specialist, considers the misinformation as it's related to grief in his article, "How Long Does Grief Last?” [i]
He suggests that the passage of time has nothing to do with actually moving through the pain. One of his main points was this:
"If anything, all that happens as time goes by is that grievers become so accustomed to living with the pain that it becomes an everlasting part of their lives. That pain will continue to control them if they fail to take meaningful action to deal with it."
As a Certified Business, Life, and Cognitive Behavior Life Coach, I can tell you that the relationship is directly proportional between the amount of grief you've genuinely resolved and the amount of consistency you will develop to become an effective leader inside your life.
Assessing your leadership roles in your personal and professional life means that once you've acknowledged these moments of grief, you're now attempting to make sense of the damage. It doesn't have to be a significant traumatic experience or an immediately recognizable change. The damage assessment will typically yield effects recognized in your behaviors and actions that you might've changed since the moment occurred. I tell all my clients to start with the critical areas and "clean your house," even if you feel there's nothing there, it doesn't mean we should overlook it. Assess your social circles, lifestyle habits and behaviors, physical activity, and community.
The next step in the framework is where most people jump to first when grief occurs in their life. They begin to Adjust their life to learn how to live with the grief- rather than adjusting their life to learn how to heal from the grief. Remember, grief is not connected solely to the personal loss or tragedy of another individual or animal. Merriam Webster has three definitions for the word and several other sources. However, regardless of the definition, the term still implies an unfortunate outcome and can still be managed using the same framework.
Adjusting your life in these areas is where most of us give up on becoming more effective leaders inside our lives, but it's where the successful ones learn to stay. They understand the concept as creating a foundation for development and growth if a grief moment occurs; they don't have to reach so far down in their thought process for the answer that will consistently produce effective high-level decision-making. They rely on this thought process in both their personal and professional leadership roles.
The last step in the framework has been my clients' personal favorite. Once they have gotten their leadership to a consistent level, they can be more effective and devote more energy to the habits that will make them even more successful. It's where they Maintain their influence and effectiveness in both their personal and professional leadership roles and become trusted high-level decision-makers.
A simple, repeatable formula that I've had numerous successes and positive feedback. The reason it's so successful is that this framework isn't based on some proprietary knowledge or pretending to know every situation that all of you encounter. It relies on you being honest with yourself and teaches you how to apply this concept to your life using your environment, resources, and current leadership roles.
"Yes, I Acknowledge, Assess, Adjust, Maintain!"
My company, Reshape Your Thinking, has made it simple and easy for anyone of all ages and cultures to learn how to develop this framework within their own life and be able to say, "Yes, I A.M. a Leader!"
Buy our Book: Brick by Brick: Reshape Your Thinking, available here on Amazon.
"I loved that Coach Shawn's tone was very inspiring. Better still, he used some quotes at the end of each chapter. Coach Shawn knows how to coach people who are going through difficulties." – Online Book Club Reader.
Take our Course: Gain access to our Reshape Your Thinking LIFETIME Leadership Course (That's right, Pay ONCE for LIFE)
In this course, we will cover how to apply the four principles that make the Yes, I A.M. method effective at helping you become more influential in your personal and professional leadership roles.
We will cover each topic in videos no longer than 10 minutes!
Friends
Family
Action
Character
Counseling
Finances
Coach Shawn will show you how one might apply the four core principles Acknowledge, Assess, Adjust, and Maintain (Yes, I A.M. principles) that will empower you to become the leader you desire to be!
Book your free Initial Coaching Session with Coach Shawn and take your personal and professional leadership to the next level! Click here!
Want to learn more about our services? Visit us at https://reshapeyourthinking.com, where you lead, and we follow!
Shawn Singleton, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Shawn Singleton, II is the author of "Brick by Brick: Reshape Your Thinking" and 2021 CREA Global Award recipient who primarily focuses on advising youth and young adults to effectively manage their influence in their personal and professional leadership roles. As a Husband, Community Leader, Engineer, and Certified Cognitive Behavioral, Life, and Business Coach, Shawn knows what it takes to become an effective leader in personal and professional leadership roles. Shawn created the "Yes, I A.M." leadership method from several personal and professional experiences, from being raised without a father in a single-parent household to head coach and community leader to organizational leadership and management. Shawn has experienced and overcame almost every obstacle young men face today regarding development and understanding of creating a foundation to become the leader they desire to become!
Reference:
[i] Moeller, S. (2017, July 13). How Long Does Grief Last? Retrieved from The Grief Recovery Method.
