Thank you for listening to The Champion Forum Podcast with Jeff Hancher! Life creates plenty of opportunities to give us scars, especially in leadership. But how do you view those scars? Leaders respond to their challenges with various emotions, from pride to embarrassment. Many are unprepared for the price of leadership and the way it challenges even the best leaders to focus on growth every day. The good news is that regardless of how you feel about your leadership scars, they represent four positive things.
4 Things Your Leadership Scars Represent
Scars are a Sign of Healing
A scar is not an open wound, it is a sign of healing. A scar is a sign that you have moved through the worst of the pain and have found a way forward through a difficult time. Even though you can still see the effects, you can be excited that you have grown through the situation and are moving forward!
Scars are a Sign of Strength
Your scars serve as a reminder of everything you have gone through to get where you are. When you face a new challenge, you can look at your scars and know that you had the strength to go through hard times before and you can do it again.
Scars are a Sign of Passion
Often our biggest scars in leadership come when we are taking the biggest risks. Maybe you were starting a new position or introducing a new initiative when you encountered some opposition. Your scars are proof that you are trying new things and are willing to take risks to grow.
Scars are an Opportunity to Teach
When you share your own failures and the lessons you learned in leadership, you help other people through their own challenges. You also show them that things will get better! They will continue to grow and become a better leader if they don’t give up.
Q: What is your current perspective toward leadership scars? Do you feel like they are signs of passion and strength, or are you embarrassed by them? What contributes to your mindset about your leadership scars? How can you reframe those moments so you can see them with a growth mindset?
Application Activity:
Leadership requires vulnerability. What story from your time as a leader could be used to encourage a new leader? Take some time to journal about the situation. What happened? How did you feel? How did you heal? When you’re done, think about who needs to hear your story. Who could you share this story with this week to encourage them or help them avoid making the same mistake?
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