Leaps of leadership

As we move to higher levels of leadership, different factors come into play. Nobody was born CEO, so all of us have to learn how to adapt our own practices and mindset to operate effectively at higher levels.

This article, written by the author of the book Leap to Leader, Adam Bryant, really resonated with me. I found myself nodding my head vigorously as I read through it in detail.

Some key areas in this article stand out for me:

• Be clear on what you stand for. To me this is about being clear on your values and what it means when you are living those values as a leader. When we lead in line with our values, things flow more smoothly. When we don’t, we experiencee unnecessary and sometimes damaging friction on a daily basis. It drains our energy. and wears us down. Bryant calls this ‘developing your leadership brand’.
  • Note – I developed a fantastic exercise to help people identify their values and what it looks like when you are living them. Let’s talk if you’d like me to take you through it.
• Hone your decision making. The higher you go in an organization, the more you will need to be making decisions with less data to draw on. The decisions are more complex the higher you go, and you’ll need to develop a level of comfort in making the best decision you can with the available information.
• Build self-awareness. This includes understanding your drivers and triggers, managing your emotions and being clear on your own strengths and weaknesses. You don’t have to be good at everything, but you do need to have a plan for the areas where you don’t personally excel.

Read the excellent full article here:

https://hbr.org/2023/07/the-leap-to-leader

11 September 2023