Selfie:

Pronunciation: /ˈsɛlfi: A photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and shared via social media; Origin: early 21st century. (Source: Oxford Online Dictionary)

Last week I concluded a three-part series on the topic of Discernment in Leadership, indicating that the leader does not need to personally be discerning, while also pointing out that the leader does need to be discerning enough to locate and listen to someone who is, and then to hire them - and listen to their discernment.

My closing statement was this: “…no leader needs to personally or inherently have all of the gifts needed to lead.  Rather, they must have an ability to do an honest and accurate self-appraisal.  And then, just as vital to their success, must be able to identify others who bring additional core talents to the team.”

Utilizing the language of our modern tech-enabled world, we can restate the same principle as follows:

“Every leader who wants to be effective must have the humility to capture, observe, and embrace an accurate ‘selfie.’ ”

Of course, a “selfie” is a photo taken by oneself - and of oneself…which is then often posted on one or more social media platforms for all the world-wide-web to see.

In a similar fashion, a “skill-set selfie” is, as was quoted last week, “…having a sane estimate of one’s own ability...”  So even though this might be a bit of a “fun with language” analogy, it is important for those in leadership to have a reasonable estimate of one’s own abilities and, of course equally, one’s limitations.

Next week we will look at a couple of practical ways that we can gain the needed and useful self-awareness that can assist in recognizing personal strengths and skill-gaps. Doing so is not only a mark of humility; it is also an essential capacity for leadership – namely, to be able to have an accurate “selfie” if maximum effectiveness is the ultimate leadership goal.

In the meantime, while embracing the analogy of the “selfie,” have fun with your cell-phone camera and your social media posts…