5 Leadership Development Tips

I have a new article out this week in Authority Magazine with leadership development tips. Authority Magazine focuses on a “five things” approach, and the actual title of the article is The Five Things You Need To Be A Highly Effective Leader During Turbulent Times.

This is kind of a trick statement, of course, because all times are troubled in their own way, and the fundamentals of good leadership really don’t change that much. I’ve sometimes said that in the past, “leadership” meant “being strong and in charge” while today’s leaders need more empathy and a better understanding of influence instead of command. But that’s actually been true throughout history. Commanders need to be in charge. Leaders need to be able to gain trust and influence people both under their control and outside it. The best commanders are also great leaders.

Are your leadership development tips new, then?

Not really. A lot of consultants and authors want us to believe they’ve found some magic formula or new approach to leadership. One consulting company recently put out their own research claiming that they had discovered a new and better approach to business success than employee engagement. When I looked into the details of their research, I came away unimpressed. To me, it seemed not much more than a glitzy repackaging of some old ideas in order to sell consulting services where they would tell managers what they wanted to hear.

For this article, I wanted to focus on things that I have seen in great leaders over my 30+ year career building and leading teams in all kinds of organizations–tech startups, Fortune 25 companies, and nonprofits.

The thing about leadership is that there are no magic formulas, no comprehensive checklists, no foolproof methodologies. People are complex creatures, from all kinds of backgrounds, with different abilities, and motivated (and demotivated) by many different things.

Leadership of people is a skilled craft. As with any craft, mastery takes talent, training, attention, practice, and time.

Leadership also takes courage. Don’t confuse courage with bravado, though. Good leaders have the courage to understand and embrace their vulnerabilities. Good leaders have the courage to know when they need help, and seek it out. Good leaders seek and expect accountability. Courage breeds trust, whereas bravado is a barrier to trust.

There’s a video that goes with the article!

Check out this short video that summarizes the Five Things I discuss in the article. Then read the article. I promise the whole thing is worth your time. After you read it, come back here and drop a comment with your thoughts. Or, contact me at any time!