Leadership Success Habit #2 - Show Up

Leadership success doesn't just happen by accident.

Showing up means more than just arriving on time, walking through the door and filling a seat. If you are present physically but absent mentally, then you aren't really showing up at all. Showing up in terms of leadership is more about mental engagement and focus and less about simply being present in the room.

Recently, I had the opportunity to participate on a judge's panel to evaluate senior projects for a local high school. I had served as a judge in previous years, so I understood and appreciated the amount of work these students had put in since their freshmen year and the level of difficulty of both the projects and the presentations.

For several days prior to the presentations, I hadn't been sleeping well and was functioning on just a few hours of rest a night. When the time came I was feeling not only exhausted but was having trouble focusing and concentrating. Because of that, I excused myself from the judge's panel.

There were many other business and community leaders involved in the evaluations so I knew that wouldn't be leaving the school high and dry but I felt that it wasn't fair to these students, who had put so much time and work into their presentations, for me to be physically present but certainly not focused or able to concentrate enough to give fair scores and constructive comments. While my physical body would be there, I wouldn't really be "showing up" and honoring the student's time and effort. 

Have you committed to lead a project, give a presentation or work with a team to achieve a specific goal? If so, do all you can to be prepared so that those giving up their time and energy, and looking to you for leadership, know that you respect and value their presence. Be intentional and ready to show up for them. 

If you have had the experience of preparing, practicing, reworking, putting thought into a presentation, creating and editing slides and even choosing the perfect outfit - and then those in the room are merely filling seats, distracted and not mindfully present, you feel disappointed and discouraged. You might be hesitant to put yourself out there in the future. You might be thinking, "Why did they even show up?", because truthfully, they didn't. 

Showing Up is bringing your attention, interest, commitment and curiosity to the project, presentation or meeting at hand. When you show up authentically, you not only listen, but you learn. You share your insights and experience, and you take away the knowledge and experience of others. When you commit to show up, strive to show up all the way, every time. 

Can we be 100% engaged 100% of the time? No. We are human beings balancing a variety of things happening in our lives....family obligations, days that go sideways, unexcepted news, responsibilities, health concerns...but we can do our best to "Show Up" with intention, attention and to lead authentically when we commit to do so. 

Leadership success doesn't just happen by accident. Are there leaders whose personalities are so charismatic and inspirational that others naturally follow them? Yes, there are and we can all learn from them. I have had the honor and privilege of working with some amazing leaders with very different personalities and leadership styles, but an important component of their natural leadership ability is their commitment to Show Up consistently, authentically and intentionally.