Good leadership is all about growth and learning - there's no way you'll become what you need to be if you remain what you are.
To become a true leader, you must grow and develop as a leader, and this process is often the most difficult to undertake. The good thing is that whatever you do, no matter what your position in an organization is, and no matter where you come from, you can be a better version of yourself. The most important thing is to be aware of your own development.
Here are some signs that you are preventing yourself from becoming better than you are right now:
1. You've become stagnant and way too complacent
You know you're growing as a leader if you're taking risks and exploring possibilities. Without risks, you won't be able to improve yourself. If you feel content with the things you already know and you find no reason to develop new skills, your development is certainly halted.
2. You pay more attention to failure rather than success
When you can't stop thinking about the things you were not able to do and you lose time to think of what you've achieved, you'll find it very hard to move forward. A clear sign that you've lost your way is when you take a look at your situation and all you see are failures.
3. You give less and you take more
Good leaders work hard not to gain credit for themselves, but for their people instead. If you take more than you give, you're not really trying to serve. To become an effective leader, you need to be generous, and you need to be happy simply knowing how you've helped others.
4. You feel that your mistakes are more significant than the lessons you need to learn
Mistakes play an important role in any person's success. Even the greatest leaders in the world have made mistakes, but those mistakes taught them some very important lessons in life and in their careers. To be a better leader, you should understand the fact that you're way more than your mistakes. All you need is to learn from them.
5. You prefer the easy way most of the time
We live in a highly technological world where people always look for the easiest ways to do things. Choosing the easy way, however, will not make you a better leader. To develop your leadership, you need to continuously challenge yourself and find ways to overcome any challenges. When you challenge yourself, you succeed at every single milestone that you'll reach.
A successful and effective leader knows that good leadership begins where comfort and ease end. The best way to grow and develop is not to do what you've always done, but to try new things so you can discover new abilities.