Leadership from my perspective

In leadership, it’s not about you, it’s never been about you, it will never be about you. There, got that out of the way. Meaning, if it wasn’t for those that follow you, you would simply be a person on a walk. They are why your leadership matters.

Be approachable and show it. Take time to listen and listen with the intent of understanding their concerns. If it is important to them, make it important to you.

Be open to ideas from everyone. You never know where the next great idea will come from and if you do not seek input from others, you might never know.

Lead with moral courage. This is where I always turn to Clausewitz. The courage to accept responsibility and the courage to face moral danger. This can come at you in several ways but when it is time to stand, you must have the courage to do so. If you don’t, who are your people to count on.

Be a lifelong learner, and I don’t mean just reading books. Great, you can read. Put yourself in challenging leadership roles that are different from past experiences. You keep doing the same thing and you will remain the same leader. Just remember, everything is changing around you.

Understand the kind of leader you are and the kind of leader you are not. When leaders tell me they are this or that, I ask them ‘if I asked your followers what they would say’. It is difficult to get honest feedback when you are the leader however you must find those that will provide this for you, then you must listen to it.

There is no best leadership style. There is, however, a best leadership style for a given situation. You must know when that is and what style figures into the equation of person + situation = leadership style. This goes back to understanding the kind of leader you are and are not. Work on the ‘are not’ aspects of your leadership and you will become better prepared to lead in many different situations and lead more diverse teams.

Don’t dwell on a past issue. Say what you have to say on the matter, realign expectations, and move on. Focus on the positive. The goal of the leader is to build them up not tear them down.

Don’t submit to a toxic culture and don’t be the cause of a toxic culture. If you make it about you, the workplace will likely become toxic. If one must go to grow the many, get rid of the toxic person. They are not worth the culture of the organization.

Let them be great. Celebrate their victories.

Let them make mistakes in their learning process. Then spend time with them learning from it. It is about developing their decision-making process and thinking more critically about how they make decisions.

Meet them where they are and bring them where they need to be. Yes, you will have some work to do with some of them, however, someone spent time with you so now it’s your turn to pay it back.

Always take the moral high road and never make it personal. This can be difficult when emotions get involved. Work on developing your emotional intelligence.

Adversity does not build character, it reveals it. Self-reflection after adversity builds character. Don’t find this out about yourself or your team in moments of crisis.

Leadership is about influence. Understand the power of influence and use it for the greater good.

Leadership is an art and a science. As Clausewitz states, science is about knowledge and art is about creative ability. The knowledge part is understanding how humans interact and behave as well as the fundamentals of leadership theory. The art of leadership is knowing the answer to the person + situation = leadership style. Every person is going to be different, and no two situations will be the same. Don’t get stuck in the rut of using one leadership style because it works for you. Remember, it’s not about you.

I hope this provides some points to ponder as you develop as a leader.