Failing to Succeeding: The Transformational Journey of Moving from Manager to Leader
The transition from manager to leader is a journey in the construction industry. It’s a journey that requires you to overcome your biases and beliefs and a journey of leadership self-development that will challenge you at every turn. But it will also reward you with the ability to impact the world around you.
To be a good leader, you must first understand what makes a good manager. A manager is responsible for bringing structure, order, and accountability to the organisation. Managers have specific goals they need to meet—and they have clear lines of authority over their employees that help them achieve those goals.
“Failure is not the opposite of success; it’s part of success.” – Arianna Huffington.
Leaders are different from managers because they have a different kind of responsibility: they inspire others through their vision and values. They are responsible for creating an environment where those around them can thrive, grow, and succeed—even if it means stepping outside their comfort zone!
A manager manages the system, process and goals of their team and the business.
Leaders develop people!
For your team members to follow you successfully down this new path toward success as a leader rather than just another manager, you must learn how to communicate effectively with them about what exactly is expected of them now (and how those expectations differ from what was expected before).
That is why, throughout our Leading with Motivational Intelligence programme, particular emphasis is given to helping leaders raise motivational intelligence levels and foster a growth mindset within their team, which is crucial to leadership self-development.
But in a world where failure is not an option, it’s no surprise that many people struggle to transition from manager to leader. But what if we could reframe our understanding of that Journey?
What if failure was just another step in the process?
“Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.” – Winston Churchill.
Where to start the Journey of leadership self-development
Leadership self-development is a process that requires time, energy, and commitment. You cannot do it in a day or two, but you’ll see results when you put in the effort.
Here are some ways to think about your development by reflecting and learning from failure:
1. Failure has a purpose: You are not failing just because something didn’t work out—you’re failing so that you can learn and grow from what happened! Instead of beating yourself up when things don’t go according to plan, take some time to reflect on what went wrong and how you could do things differently next time.
2. Failure helps us see ourselves more clearly: When something doesn’t work out exactly as planned, we tend to see our flaws more clearly than before. This can be uncomfortable at first, but it also helps us understand who we are and what we need for our vision to come into reality
3. Failure is an essential part of the self-development process: Just as self-development requires time, energy, and commitment, failure is an inevitable part of that process. No one is perfect, and everyone makes mistakes or experiences setbacks. Instead of seeing failure as a negative outcome, view it as an opportunity to learn, grow, and become a better leader. Embrace failure as a necessary step towards achieving your goals and fulfilling your potential.
By reframing failure in this way, you can approach challenges with a growth mindset and see obstacles as opportunities for development rather than roadblocks to success. This way, you can stay motivated and focused on your goals despite setbacks or failures.
“Failure is so important. We speak about success all the time. It is the ability to resist failure or use failure that often leads to greater success.” – J.K. Rowling.
Looking at ourselves when things go wrong isn’t about beating ourselves up or being self-critical – quite the opposite. It’s about reflecting on our actions, understanding our decisions, and learning from the situation.
Doing this helps us become better people, business owners, and leaders.
It takes work! But it’s all part of having a growth mindset and seeing the Journey of becoming the best leaders we can be as a learning process.
To learn to be great leaders, we must open our eyes and minds to what our business teaches us daily.
At the Power Within Training, we help create great leaders by equipping them with the tools and techniques, the MQ mindset, and the knowledge to think bigger, be better and achieve more.
Are you interested in making the transition from manager to leader?
Get in touch!
All our programmes – including our worlds-first Executive Diploma in Leading With Motivational Intelligence (MQ) and our Business Growth Academy – and our fully online Self-Leadership Development programme and multiple Executive, Team and Business Coaching have been created with passion and commitment to our mission.
If you’re a business leader looking for something a bit different, training & development that works…then we can help.
James Fleming
The Power Within Training,
The Motivational Intelligence Company
