How you achieve success by modeling the best

A lot of people or organizations try to figure out their own way of how to achieve greatness. Sometimes they succeed, but most often they fail.

When it comes to leaders, around 50 % develop themselves. When they come to a certain level, they stop growing because they have reached a plateau and don´t know how to go further.

That is why it is so important to seek help from someone who has gone further than you, and believe me there is always someone further than you.

You and the organization need to be humble enough to seek help. There is a sign of strength when you show weakness.

Here are some ways you can to model the best and achieve success:

The importance of establishing a Mentoring program

Leaders in all positions throughout the company need to have a mentor. A mentor that is devoted to your growth can see where you are and help you to the next level.

IAEA OSART (Operational Safety Review Team) Good practices- In the Nuclear industry different review teams visits other power plants around the world and receive insights of good performances and areas for improvement.

A lot of these reports are official, and you can read and evaluate them to apply the things applicable to your power plant.

Steal with pride:)

Focus on your strengths

If you focus on your week spots, you will never become better then you are or have been. To excel in an area, you need to figure out what you are good at and then compensate with others in your weak areas.

The reason for this is that if you are a 5 in an area (scale from 1-10) and you work hard, you usually only gain 2, and you will be a 7. That is rather good. If you instead are a 3 in an area and you work hard and gain 2 points, you will still be a 5.

So, focus on your strength zone and compensate in your weaker areas, and this is also valid for organizations.

Benchmark your way to success

Participate in different international conferences, seminars, and visit other power plants to learn in general or in a particular topic.

There was a hotel manager in the USA who was not satisfied with the rating they had received (2 stars out of 5). He sent all of his staff to 2 days paid stay at the Sheraton hotel in New York. He had one, and that was for them to observe and bring back as many ides to their hotel as possible.

After a couple of months, the hotel had received a new rating of 4 out of 5

Apply what you have learned

Your knowledge is nothing worth if you don´t apply it. Then you can measure the result. You also need to have patience because some of the things that really make a difference in an organization have to do with competence, cooperation, and engagement, which takes time.

Learn more about the power of taking massive action and how that positively affects your results in my e-learning training here.

Be intentional in your modeling

When it comes to your own personal growth, you have to be intentional. Growth doesn´t happen in an instant. Study people how to manage to get things done. What do they do differently than you?

Interview leaders outside your organization and take the opportunity to ask great questions when you are at social events. One thing that has worked for me is when I set up lunch-meetings higher managers, and they share their insight from work and in life.

Continuous improvements

You need to foster a learning and evaluating organization. If you only copy others way of doing things, it might not be working for your organization. I have learned this the hard way because depending on which people you lead you to have to adapt your leadership style.