Souzan’s Leadership Practice

What outcome/response did you experience based on these new behaviors? Thanks for your input, Jeff. To clarify, when I said I was going to try to see things from other people's perspectives, I basically meant that to try to interact with people based on their DISC character traits. It has been pretty evident that when you follow this behavior, your outcome is more favorable. Basically you are treating people the way they would like to be treated and therefore you establish a more level of trust. Also, since I am a very detailed oriented person, sometimes I get lost in the process and lose sight of what is important, which is the end-result. Like Steven Cover says in one of his books called 7 habits of highly successful people, “Begin with the end in mind”. I feel like I have been more efficient by focusing on the results (big picture) and have been able to accomplish more with less stress.

What challenges did you experience in implementing your leadership practices and how did you address them? It is sometimes difficult to guess people’s DISC character trait if you have just met them. Also, sometime your character traits interfere with treating people the way they should be treated. For example, I may want to be as direct as possible with a “D” person, but my “C” comes through and I start giving more information than a “D” person needs.

What did you learn along the way? Respect is earned and cannot be demanded. So, we have to be patient. These behaviors take a lot of practice until they become second nature. I have been reading this book called “power of habit” by Charles Duhigg , which I find very interesting and recommend it to everyone. It basically demonstrates that successful people achieve results by focusing on the patterns that shape every aspect of their lives. I also learned that we need to set reasonable and achievable goals to be successful!!

How do you plan to utilize these behaviors moving forward? This is a process that we need to master along the way, because it will not happen overnight. It takes patience and practice. So, I plan on taking a few moments each day and reflect on the events of that day and what I have learned. I would also like to start planning and thinking about the upcoming events and plan my future interactions with people by rehearsing my approach and interactions with them. I need to learn from experiences, adjust my approach if needed, and be able to move forward utilizing the behaviors.