I spent the first 4 hours of my day in leadership training. Below is a summary of what I learned.

My top takeaways:

1. In order to know what good leadership looks like, it is important to define leadership.

Leadership defined: leadership is the art of getting others to want to do something you are convinced needs to be done. That means you need to know how to influence. It is an art, which means one size does not fit all.

Leaders come in many forms. You have the visionary (think: Jobs), skilled operators (think: Cook), Inspirational (think: Plank or Jocko). Borrow from what makes other leaders great, but never lose sight of what your default mode is. You may also play different roles as you grow.

2. There are levels to this.

You have leaders put in the position, leaders who earn permission, leaders who garner respect based on their results, leaders who grow others, and the pinnacle leader who does it all & influences outside of the organization. The first three can be accomplished from hard work & people skills, the latter require deliberate effort.

Based on the discussions we had today with the group, my focus needs to be on deliberately growing my team.

3. To be strategic, you need to make space to think.

As a mentor once told me, you are paid to think. Leaders need to be able to think through problems to come up with potential solutions and think long term. Strategic thinking paired with disciplined execution is a dangerous combination.

Subscribe 👇📧

Drop your email in the box below to receive an update when I post my weekly blog. Typically musings on philosophy, fitness, or personal finance. You can also follow on Twitter for other shenanigans.