Personal Transformation Requires Aspiration Awareness and Accountability
Book Giveaway!!
20 copies available!!
Leave a comment on this guest post by Christian Greiser to become eligible for one of 20 complimentary copies of his new book, Remove, Replace, Restart: The Essential Maintenance Manual for Your Engine for Success.
Deadline for eligibility is 10/13/2023. International winners will receive electronic version.
A current Google search for “reinvent yourself” yields over twelve million hits. Little wonder, since climate change, AI, and the shifting geopolitical order are about to turn the world we know upside down. To thrive in this environment, it is vital that we adapt and transform. Effective personal transformation is contingent on three factors: aspiration, awareness, and accountability.
Aspiration
Every leader needs an aspirational picture of a better version of him or herself.
What are your hopes and dreams?
How do you picture yourself in five to seven years from now? Image details. What do you see, hear, feel? What is different compared to today?
Action: Take time off to reflect on your aspirations.
Awareness
Open, honest feedback is the greatest gift any leader can receive.
What do others recognize about you that you don’t?
Which unconscious processes tend to hinder your growth? How can you find out?
Action: If three colleagues were to give you one piece of advice each, what would it be? Ask them!
Accountability
Holding yourself accountable means expecting from yourself what you expect from your best employees.
How do you hold yourself accountable?
What are you prepared to sacrifice to achieve personal transformation? Are you willing to declare your personal goals to those around you?
Action: Share your personal goals with your closest, most trusted friend and ask him or her to remind you of these goals as needed.
Leaders who master personal transformation act as role models and catalysts. Once they have transformed themselves, they can begin to transform their organizations.
Change yourself, and everything around you will change.
When are you going to reinvent yourself?
Christian Greiser is an executive coach and management consultant. He guides thought leaders, decision-makers, and entrepreneurs on personal development journeys, helping them determine their values, talents, and strengths. Originally published in German, his book, Remove, Replace, Restart: The Essential Maintenance Manual for Your Engine for Success, is released in English on October 10, 2023. Visit his website to learn more.
I am currently reading Christian’s book. I’m only on page 43–but so far its been great–very interesting and insightful. If I were rating it today, I would give it 5-stars.
Thanks for chiming in.
This is a perfect read for our aspiring leaders and our veterans! A must read for me.
This book sounds like a fantastic read. It’s always inspiring to read a book from such a dedicated individual and truly a must have for any entrepreneurial’s library.
A Guru once said:
“Growth needs Transformation
Transformation needs change,
Change needs transition,
Transitions are never comfortable.”
So, if we can overcome the uncomfortable transition, Transformation is faster…
This is an enticing title to read in a time of declining accountability. I’m intrigued.
I spend time each week with new employees of a large organization. I try to convince them that I know better because of what I’ve learned. I think along the way, I have learned more about what it is I want them to experience through personal awareness. I wish I spent more time discussing personal goals. Thank you for sharing your book.
This is a painful topic for me. It’s clearly the direction one should focus one’s energy on a daily basis before it becomes too daunting. I need to start small again.
I recently listened to a podcast that talked about the power of reflection. Your post reminded me of this when you talked about aspirations and the need to really think and reflect on them. I’ve built a habit of setting goals, but never taken time to think about what that looks like, sounds like, feels like, etc. I think focusing on aspirations will help me improve these efforts. I’ll be asking 3 colleagues today for a piece of advice also! I love asking it in that way vs. typically I say, “feel free to pushback or tell me where I’m off”. This leaves it much more open and hopefully safe.
In a world where we add, add, add, the concept of removing and replacing to restart is often forgetten.
I totally agree that transformational leadership starts within, and our fellow employees deserve the best from us as leaders.
I am at the stage of my career where i need this transformation. This book sounds like just the advice i need.
I am embarking on a health journey that will change my life as I know it and plan to also do a complete restart of self-awareness, self-preservation and life in general.
Therefore, I believe this book would be an excellent guide.
I am facilitating a Leadership Development Program. We’ve started the program with assessments which encourage the participants to know themselves (emotional intelligence, DiSC, strengths). We ask them to complete a reflection of the class work each month which will build to an individual leadership development plan in the last workshop of the year. It seems this book would add a lot to those discussions.
Often, we forget to take time away from our busy lives and consider what we want for our future. Great reminder!
I just love the quote above: “Change yourself and everything around you will change.” This simple statement is really powerful, and I believe, holds a lot of weight. It is easy to fall into the cycle of comfortability, and doing what we’ve always done. Seeing something in a new light, changing how we perceive or act, and refocusing our attention can really be impactful – not only to ourselves, but to the other people around us.
Accountability as a leader is important. Others need to learn by what you role model.
I’m currently in a phase of change and find myself struggling to know what to do and how to be successful in the new role. These 3 “As” will be very helpful to me as I transition into my new role.
I need to read this book. I want to make change, so I need to change myself. I am in the process of setting my annual work goals. I’ve made a long list in each of the three categories. My favorite category is personal learning!
I love the premise of this book not only for me but to share with my team as we continue to go through some radical changes within our worlds. Evolution requires that flexibility that these A’s bring.
Transformation is essential for everyone to keep growing and developing. Many times we’re not even aware of the transformation until we’re in the middle of it. Through Aspiration, Awareness, and Accountability we’re able to manage our transformation and achieve an outcome we desire.
As a strengths coach, I love to bring in additional insights and resources like this to guide our reflections! If you want to impact change, you must know who you are, how you work best and how you can pour into others around you.
Good morning. Sometimes reflection and inspection shows that tough changes need to be made. If we want to be better, it’s got to be done. We can’t help others if we don’t help ourselves first.
I find this to be a tough and necessary topic! I love providing and receiving thoughtful and critical feedback! I love reflecting and helping others to reflect on how we can be the best version of ourselves in service to something bigger than ourselves. This book sounds amamzing!
Always looking for new perspectives that resonate and help with growth personally and to help inspire others.
I agree with Megan above. In my organization I had been in a position of influence without authority, then in management I had authority but allow the team to have autonomy. My leadership took that away, and I’ve moved back into an individual contributor role. It was a tough but necessary transition, and it is giving me time to reflect and restart on what’s important to me in a leader and how I am able to go back to influence without authority.
For me, transforming myself is a daily process. I ask myself if I am better today than I was the day before. Any progress is cause for celebration. I try to not be too hard on myself when I get information from those around me that can be used for improvement. It is easy to give feedback to others, much harder to receive that feedback from others.
I am at the point in my career where I am really taking a hard look at the direction I am going and working to reinvent and improve myself. These suggestions are wonderful.
This would be a great read to re-energize myself in my profession. Looking forward to this book!
I have tried many times to hold myself accountable by sharing my personal goals with my close, trusted friends. This has fallen by the wayside or dissipated over different periods of time. Holding my accountability friend/partner accountable to help me be accountable is a dilemma. I think this book would help me find an answer to this.
I would love to learn more about how to accomplish this “Change yourself, and everything around you will change.” What a wonderful insight!
I have never found setting goals to feel natural. But then I also struggle with defining my favorite food (a ripe peach, a seared steak, chocolate cake, warm chocolate chip cookies, who could possibly pick?) A previous manager called me a swiss army knife–for me it is about the exercise of skills more than it is about a particular role. Give me a project that requires analytical thought and I’m all over it. And as I inch closer to retirement, I wonder how to think about a career and goals.
“Change yourself, and everything around you will change.” is an incredible message!
Currently in the process of changing myself so that I may transform into a better version of myself I foresee moving forward. I’m currently looking to apply for a promotion and as much as it will be taking me out of my comfort zone, I’m aware in order for personal growth, one has to change and push themselves. I’m a very accountable person in and out of the office. I believe if we display this value in action, others will recognize it and also accept holding themselves accountable.
Thank you, Dan, this post really resonated with me today.
Great post!! Thank you
I agree with the prior comments about the challenge of making a transition. Hard process. This framework will help to see if I think I’m making change versus reality. Appreciate the post.
This article pierced me to the core and stopped me in my tracks of never ending movement. Interested in reading the book
Reinvention can happen repeatedly and at any point in our lives. That’s the encouraging part!
This post is very timely for my life. I am currently on a journey of personal transformation. What I established in my philosophy of life is a one of three foundational anchors: to serve others. It does not matter if you are the janitor or the CEO, servant-leadership is for everyone. Servant-leadership brings humility. Out of humility comes two aspects of how we serve others. We serve others with kindness and always to give hope.
One key is to have people around you professionally or personally than are able and willing to give t houghtfulfeedback.
🙏🏼
A great reminder of how important it is to take some time for self-reflection. As someone who is about to transition into a leadership role, this sounds like a great read.
A requirement of being a transformative leader requires that leaders hold themselves accountable and be self aware. Often the self awareness requires introspection that makes some uncomfortable. Work through this and achieve more and more. Thank you for the thought today.
As a leader I have found myself feeling like I plateaued. I have become unmotivated and after reading this article about your book I realized that my lack of aspiration, awareness, and accountability has not only affected me but also everyone around me. I need to read this book so that I can take the path of transformation and continue on the path to transforming those around me. Thank you Dan for bringing this to light for me. And thank you Christian for the time and effort you have gone through to write this book that is going to revive true, positive leadership.
A good reminder to take the time to re-evaluate your own performance and motivation.
Supporting the next generation of leaders has many challenges, one of which is separating the message from the messenger. Books like this are one of the best tools we can have to help the conversation, to support transformation!
Asperation is the part I feel is lacking in me. Sometimes I get a short burst of it and just like that, it’s gone again.
I had a great mentor who referenced this blog and recommended it to me, I have been following it for a couple years now and as a young-ish man, this blog has helped me in my career and personal life!
This is a perfect read for both our aspiring leaders and our veterans.
Working with high school students that are looking to make a change in their life. this looks like a perfect read for them. Would love a copy!
How timely for me to read this post. I am amidst my professional transformation and look forward to reading this book.
The moment my leadership journey changed for the better was when I realized that feedback was not something to be feared, but a gift to be given and cherished when received. It fundamentally changed my life and made me a much better coach and leader.
Great stuff! Adaptation and transformation are key in our changing world. Aspire, seek feedback, and hold yourself accountable – a path to personal growth and inspiring change in others. It all starts with us.
I have an idea and understanding of my personal unconscious processes and barriers that would hinder my growth due to feedback received from colleagues I work with. The accountability is also there to succeed, however I have not done much reflecting on my personal aspirations.