In the first two parts of this Finding Your Leadership Pathway series, I spoke about preparing for the journey. The first step was assessing your starting point by identifying strengths, weaknesses, skills and talents. Step two was picking a destination based on personal goals, desires, and career intentions. However, once you start down the road it is inevitable that obstacles will arise. Navigating around these barriers holds the keys to success.

Obstacles on the leadership pathway come in many forms. Perhaps a promotion doesn’t materialize. Maybe funding cuts eliminate projects or strategic initiatives you were counting on for resume building. Interpersonal conflicts could inhibit committee work and strain coworker relations.

An exercise to endure these roadblocks involves preparing for them before they arrive. Start by brainstorming a list of possible roadblocks in advance. Contemplate the most likely ways that the journey could go off track. For example, imagine the goal is to become a manager at a nearby location when the current person retires. Here are possible ways this ambition could be thwarted:

• Heavy competition results in more skilled candidates applying
• The current manager decides to stay around longer than anticipated
• The position is frozen due to budget cuts
• Another candidate is appointed without any interviews
• Family issues interfere with your ability to compete

By anticipating what might go wrong, overly optimistic thinking is challenged. When you are grounded in realism there is opportunity to consider contingencies and possible detours. In next week’s post we will cover how to strategize around them.

What is your leadership destination?

Leader development is an ongoing process. Last week I discussed how the beginning of leadership growth is understanding your starting point. After all, you can’t plan a journey without knowing from where it will begin. Once the starting point is set, the next action is to decide on the destination.

Let’s get something out of the way first: leadership development is not solely about rising through the ranks of an organization. For many people, moving into management or administration goes against what makes them happy at work. It is perfectly fine for someone to develop within their position and never become a supervisor. That is because leaders can and must exist at all levels of an organization. The challenge for each one of us is deciding a leadership goal that is personally and professionally fulfilling.

A useful tool for this process is the Nexus LAB: Layers of Leadership Model. Created through a partnership with the Educopia Institute, the Center for Creative Leadership, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services, it maps out the skills needed for six distinct levels of leadership.

• Leading Self
• Leading Others
• Leading the Department
• Leading Multiple Departments
• Leading the Organization
• Leading the Profession

The model is meant to be approached in a non-liner fashion. Successful leaders may only explore one or two of the levels over their careers. In fact, some people might lead their profession without ever having a management role.

I invite you to explore the model in depth and use it to determine your current leadership goal. For the level you desire to reach, write down the skills, challenges, and potential outcomes associated with it. This exercise will help you identify current strengths and gaps in your knowledge that can be grown on the journey ahead.

Next week, we will explore how to navigate around roadblocks and make the best of detours.