Mark Paul, president of New York-based MGP & Associates PR. and adjunct professor of Reputation Management discusses a need for humility in business leadership to avoid the resulting clouded judgement, alienation of clients and employees and most importantly an inflated false sense of self worth.
Here are Paul's four tips to a healthy (and accurate) sense of self-worth:
Define truth. What are your core beliefs? What do you value as important? "Even if [you] are stretching the truth, deep down [you] know what the truth is," says Paul. Take time to reflect on the path you are headed and evaluate it against your moral compass.
Have an accountability structure. CEOs who surround themselves with yes-men or yes-women are never going to reach their full potential. If you silence constructive criticism and encourage flattery, then you'll never get the clear picture. Surround yourself with people who you trust to be completely truthful; these are your accountability partners. "There might be some things you need to send over to them and say I'm about to make this decision, what do you think?" says Paul. "That's where the honesty comes in, that's where the ethics comes in."
Create a framework for decision-making. What Paul uses is OSTA (objective, strategy, tactics and audiences). Your objective should be singular and outline your ultimate goal. The strategy is your plan to reach this goal and tactics are your tools in the strategy. Your audiences are the people who will be affected by your decision-making. Define each one of these elements carefully and never stray from this model of decision-making. "I use that for everything I do," says Paul. "Not only as a consultant and a professor, but also in my own life."
Seek out examples of success. Unless you've seen another person achieve a balance of humility and self-esteem, achieving the goal for yourself will be very difficult.
posted by Silentman, Henry C. @ 11:38 hours MT(GMT-7)
