leadership qualities Saudi Arabia

What Makes You Tick?

In my own journey of self-discovery, I’ve learned how important it is to discover what drives you internally—what makes you tick. When I speak to young people, I like to ask what subject at school really engages and excites them. Surprisingly, many have no clear answer. They haven’t really gotten to know themselves, which makes me wonder how they will make wise career choices for themselves. Life is too precious to spend it doing work that does not make you feel alive every day.

This process of self-discovery begins with looking at and listening to yourself. It requires the ability and willingness to reflect on yourself and your life, a quality that is less common than it should be and that every would-be leader needs to begin practicing at an early age. What do you most love to do? What are your strengths and weaknesses? What kinds of challenges engage you and bring out the best in you? Answering these questions honestly and objectively can be a challenge, but it’s worth the effort to learn more about your greatest assets—your own mind and heart.

By the time you’ve developed a sense as to what career path you find attractive, test yourself in the real world. Pay close attention to the feedback you receive from others. This will help you discover how your talents may link up with realistic career options and where you are most likely to be able to add value to the world. Then, having chosen a path that expresses your aspirations in a realistic fashion, work hard to improve your skills through continual practice and learning.

This is the start of the journey of self-discovery that every aspiring leader must take—the launching of the ship, if you will. But there’s much more to learn if you want to make your voyage a successful one.

Discovering your true interests and strengths isn’t always easy. For many people, it is a matter of trial and error, with false starts and missteps along the way. Of course, those false starts are not necessarily wasted. In fact, they can often provide knowledge and experience that proves critical to your later success. Many people discover, having studied one field in school, launched their careers in a second field, and then, perhaps, flourished in a third field, that all their areas of knowledge and expertise end up being relevant and helpful in the work they ultimately find most meaningful.

So in your voyage of self-discovery, don’t dismiss any opportunity to learn as “irrelevant” or “useless.” The truth is that you can never know for sure what kind of knowledge may prove to be valuable at a later stage in your career—a stage that may be impossible to foresee.

In the book, you can read more about the tools towards effective leadership. Until our next blog, please share with me your comments as I look forward to our discussions.

Best Regards,
Hussein A. Al-Banawi
Author, The Unknown Leader