Future of Fisheries: Perspectives for Emerging Professionals

Lessons on the Road to Leadership Effectiveness

William A. Demmer

doi: https://doi.org/10.47886/9781934874387.ch51

Many skills for leadership are developed while on the job. I realized as my career was evolving that I had certain emotional issues that were inhibiting my ability to lead effectively. I knew that I needed to isolate those issues and find tools that would allow me to work through them in order to more fully develop my leadership potential. This chapter will describe certain inhibitors that challenged me. To challenge my inhibitors, I became proactive with self-help books, management seminars, personal development coaches, and eventually psychological counseling. Developing my self-confidence and a successful leadership style took time. I learned first that if I faced my inhibitors honestly and courageously and then executed a plan to work through them, I became better prepared to lead more effectively.

Your challenge will be to find your inhibitors, face them early in your career, and work through them courageously with tools that you will find or learn about. Once you do, confidence, joy, and effectiveness will then flow more quickly into your professional and personal life.