One Important Thing to do in 2023
Plan to Professionalize Your Leadership Competence
By Joseph C. Ibekwe
Professions exist for a number of purposes. The primary purpose of every profession is to guarantee excellent provision of services by members that practice that profession. And the reason is that professions exist to serve people. No profession exists for itself.
As a leader in professional practice, certain behaviours and conducts are expected of you, while some are too low to be associated with you. But being an approved professional in any field takes some processes, both in training and retraining. Any professional that does not submit himself/herself to training and retraining will become a danger to that profession. The reason is simple: knowledge in every field of professional practice is ever unfolding. One needs to be on the cutting edge of knowledge in one’s field of professional practice. That’s why professional bodies carry what is called Mandatory Continuing Professional Development Programs – MCPD. This is the way professional bodies function.Â
As a member of the leadership profession, you necessarily need to submit yourself to undertake MCPD. This is what validates your professional practice. Also, as an emerging professional leader, you need to understand the levels that do exist in leadership practice. That is, the levels at which leaders operate in service to others. Of course, you know that public leaders are public servants. Leaders exist to serve the people, not themselves. Unless you are aware of these different levels, you may not know exactly where you are at your ladder of professional growth. There are six levels that I want to share with you presently.
- Motivator and inspiration. This is the initial stage in your life when individuals or people see you as an inspiration to them and your lifestyle and words motivate them.
- Teacher– this is the stage at which you deliberately take time to teach others in words by sharing organized knowledge within them in any field of human development, perhaps in the area of leadership development.
- Mentor – this is the stage where you have individuals who deliberately consume your works and use them as their guide to becoming great in life. You could also be directly involved in the lives of some of these ones, who take you as their mentor. You guide them, instruct them, and offer them advice.
- Consultant. This is the stage wherein you deliberately want to offer your leadership experience and products to individuals and organization for a fee. You need certification to operate at this level. Thankfully, FLED Institute offers a Certification course that prepares individuals to become Leadership Consultants.
- Coach This is where you are directly involved in people’s developmental growth: you teach, you demonstrate, you work with them to practice what you have taught, you give them space to practice on their own what you have taught, and you give feedback. The process continues. Coaching is one of the most engaging processes in all leadership development stages. You could do this for a fee, most times it done this way, or you could offer it on pro bono, charging little or no professional fees. But charging fees as Leadership Coach is permitted, provided you also have been certified to serve as a Leadership Coach.Â
- Investor This is the stage you grow or graduate into, after you have operated in the aforementioned stages – 1 to 5.
As a leadership investor, you are more concerned with leaving a legacy than in making money or being visible. You deliberately support organizations or other emerging leaders with your ideas, experiences, networks, financial and other resources to enable them actualize their own work. As an investor, you’re ready to help others become greater than you are, and to attain heights you probably may not have attained.Â
This is the highest level in the leadership professional practice.Â
At what stage do you consider yourself to be operating at the moment? What’s your plan to upgrade yourself in the coming year?Â
If you truly want to operate as Leadership Consultant and Coach, FLED International Leadership Institute offers preparatory course in this area, called Professional Leadership Certification Program – PLCP.
You may wish to review the program content and probably register for the course.
The course starts in early February 2023.
It’s time to Professionalize your leadership competence and earn from form it in 2023.
Coach @ FLED InstituteÂ
@ The Joseph Coaching International
