Awesome leaders know what their Awesome Sauce is - do you?
Awesome leaders know what their Awesome Sauce is – do you?
Leaders and their people are constantly helping organisations develop an edge. You know, that thing that sets your company apart from everyone else. The thing that your customers just love about your business, the thing that keeps them coming back for more. In some organisations, this might be to do with product leadership (think Apple or Nike), or operational excellence (think Amazon or Toyota) or, it might be about customer intimacy (think Netflix or LG) and the ability to create lasting relationships. For a business to be congruent, there should be a direct link from its edge through to its stated mission, purpose, and values. This clear line of sight helps customers, suppliers and even shareholders feel the consistency of doing business with your company so it is easier to build a trusting relationship. In fact, not only is it easier, but there is also often a strong desire to do so. So, understanding your edge is important to any company.
Your Personal Awesome Sauce
Photo by Noah Naf on Unsplash
As individuals, we also have an edge. These will be things we do better than others that enable ongoing success for ourselves, the people around us, and the organisations we work with. As a leader, it is particularly relevant to understand what your edge is and how that sets you apart in your career. But how many of us spend time thinking about our edge? Not only that, but some cultures don’t make it easy for people to identify their awesome sauce due to the tall poppy syndrome, etc. However, this is an exercise to uncover that thing about you that makes a huge impact and serves others. So it’s not only okay to allow yourself time to work on this, it’s absolutely necessary.
Tips to uncover your Personal Awesome Sauce
We know it’s important to have clarity over our edge or uniqueness but how do you elicit this information. Here are some tips to help you uncover the unique edge that sets you apart in your career:
Write down some ideas you have about what you think your unique edge is. It doesn’t matter what you write because you don’t have to share this with anyone.
Ask some trusted colleagues or friends what they think your unique edge is.
Do a check-in, do their ideas align with yours? Have they provided you with a bit more information to help you get clear on your edge?
Thinking about where you want to take your leadership in the future, what do you need to do over the next 2-3 years to continue to get better?
Photo by Manki Kim on Unsplash
Understanding your own awesome sauce is a joyous moment of clarity. Once you have this and you’ve acid tested your thinking with those around you, you can now, with more intention and with a higher level of consciousness, serve and support the people and environment around you. You have also done some future thinking around how, out into the future, you will continue to shape and sharpen your unique edge. It’s a bit like honing a knife, we do this to keep our edge sharp and fit for purpose.
If you would like to understand what your edge is and how you can use this to increase the impact of your leadership, we should chat. This is one of the many things we cover in my Leading with Impact 1:1 Coaching Programme. If you would like to know more, feel free to get in touch and we can explore if my coaching approach would be right for you.
Lead with Impact,