February 3, 2025
The root of leadership doesn’t start with anyone else; it begins with you.
Living with intention is the best way to improve your life and leadership.
Intentional living shifts us from having good intentions to taking meaningful actions. It encourages us to move from passive to active and from acting occasionally to acting consistently. It’s a perspective rooted in front-end thinking; intentional people think up front and maintain a big-picture view.
Steps you can take right now that will uplift your influence.
Be intentional with your growth. Growth is not automatic. You don’t automatically become better. You get older, yes, yet age does not mean you become better. Develop a personal growth plan for your life and do something that guides you to grow every day.
Be intentional with your attitude. Increase and improve who you are and the legacy you create.
Be intentional about your authenticity. Effective leadership begins with the courage to be yourself so others can be, too!
Be intentional with your relationships. Intentional people go first; they are the ripple starters of good things. They look for ways to add value to those around you.
Be intentional with your leadership because everything rises and falls on leadership. The more intentional you are about your leadership growth, the greater your potential for becoming the leader you’re capable of being, starting with how you lead yourself and those closest to you.
Being intentional with your significance. An intentional life embraces only the things that will add to the mission of significance. There’s a difference between being successful and significant. Success adds value to yourself. Significance adds value to others.
When you grow intentionally, you maximize the best in yourself. Maximizing the best in yourself gives you the feeling of fulfillment and positions you to live inspired.
Intentionally Own It: What is my most important growth area to work on right now? Where do I need to become more intentional in my life? Consider how this intentionality will enhance my life and the lives of others around me.
-Adapted from Maxwell Leadership