Gain Wisdom. Lead Better.

Leadership is responsibility and influence. A good leader is effective in relationships and efficient with their time and resources, and consistently reviews and renews themselves. A leaders' most important qualities are wisdom, integrity, courage, and compassion. A leaders' most important skills are self-discipline, communication, values-based decision-making, and relationship building.

This page includes, leadership development... 

• Four categories
• What is it? (four disciplines)
• Plan 
• Books 
• Quotes
• Podcasts
• YouTube channels 

Four Categories of Leadership development

There are four categories of leadership, self, parental, informal, and formal. 

Formal leadership is where a person is given authority over other people, and they are responsible for getting results for those who gave them authority. Formal leadership usually has an official contract that includes their responsibilities.

Informal leadership is where people look to another person for information or guidance, even though they don't have authority over them. Informal leaders have informal responsibility to help others with knowledge, skills, and/or encouragement. Informal leadership is an unofficial public contract where people have expectations of the informal leader to help them get results (informal responsibility). This is often seen in family members, friends, mentors, activists, and influencers, where people seek their advice or knowledge to help them create a better life.

Parental leadership is when a person has given themself authority over, and responsibility for, a child they either brought into the world or adopted. This is often the most challenging leadership position because people put themselves in this position before they are ready for it, know it is never too late to improve. Parents mostly set their kid's self-leadership foundation. 

Self-leadership is our most basic leadership, and our most important. No one has more responsibility and influence for our self than we do. Nothing is more important to communities and societies than mature, purposeful, and responsible adults. Even if you are in a tough environment that has a lot of influence over you, you have choices, and a responsibility to your future self and those who love you. 

Leadership development is to discover, design, and deliver truths and principles in order to build wisdom and skills that help fulfill responsibilities and get results, while helping others become more effective and efficient leaders.

Three Disciplines of Leadership Development

Set the environment with necessary structure, a healthy culture, and a good example (with healthy communication), will all help inspire and guide people. A healthy culture starts with trust, which depends on truth, and is strengthened through healthy communication. 

Support your people with clear responsibilities, the knowledge, skills, and resources to be able to accomplish their responsibilities. Arguably some of the most important skills to teach people includes developing a positive growth mindset, self-discipline, effective communication skills, decision making, and habit management. 

If your people are required to read often, consider setting aside time to help them improve their reading skills, the book Limitless has a good tactic. If your people are required to type often, consider setting aside time for them to learn how to type. 

Encourage your people with empathy, appreciation, inspiration, and autonomy. Allowing them a voice in the organization and get their feedback on their responsibilities. Appreciate who they are and what they have done. Inspire them with hope of future possibilities. Give them as much control over their responsibilities as possible, including space to be creative. 

Books to Consider...

The book The Advantage provides a systematic approach to create a cohesive team with trust that allows healthy conflict that leads to commitment and accountability, with a desire to embrace results. 

The book Good to Great is based on a large study of public businesses that did exceptionally well, and explains how a good leader has personal humility and professional will. It also provides many other helpful tactics like building an economic engine.

The book Multipliers uncovers how leaders can actually multiply the intelligence of their people by creating intensity of thought, challenging them by seeding opportunity, debating decisions, and instilling ownership and accountability. 

The book First Break All The Rules is based on surveys of more than a million employees and eighty thousand managers, and it found that there are twelve questions that measure the strength of a workplace, and can help attract and retain talent. 

The book No Rules Rules is about how Netflix created a culture of freedom and responsibility that brings out the best in their people. Basically, increasing their freedom led them to behave more responsibly. 

The book The Culture Code is based on a large study of eight high performing groups and gives three must have practices for a good culture or healthy environment including safety, vulnerability, and purpose. 

The formal leadership development plan is designed based on the understanding they have already built a strong personal and professional foundation, so the plan does not include the identity, affirmations, or routines.

You can create your one-page plan by recording your vision, values, goals and lead measures (or habits) to meet the goals. Then record your direct reports and their personality, strengths, appreciation language, and primary responsibility. Consider reviewing your vision, values, goals and lead measures daily, preferably in the morning following to help start your day strong. Review your direct reports traits before engaging with them to better understand them, so you can better connect with them, have better conversations, and ultimately help them develop. 

Developing the Leader Within You 2.0, and The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership, both by John Maxwell, Turn This Ship Around by L. David Marquet, Leaders Eat Last, and Start With Why, both by Simon Sinek, Multipliers by Liz Wiseman, Entreleadership by Dave Ramsey, The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner, Leadership and Self-Deception by the Arbinger Institute, The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni, Principles by Ray Dalio, The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle, Good to Great by Jim Collins, Tantum Collins, David Silverman, and Chris Fussell, and Every Body Matters by Bob Chapman and Raj Sisodia. 

• We can all learn to lead (Start With Why by Simon Sinek).
• Leadership develops from the inside out (The 21 Indispensible Qualities of a Leader by John Maxwell).
• Leaders are readers and studies show a direct relationship between the ability to read and life success... and you can improve your reading skills (Limitless by Jim Kwik).
• A leader is anyone who holds her, or himself, accountable for finding potential in people and processes (Daring Greatly by Brene Brown). 
• If you don't care - really deeply care - then you can't possibly lead (Tribes by Seth Godin). 
• Leadership is not some mystical quality that some possess and others do not. As humans we all have what it takes. (Turn this Ship Around by David Marquet).
• The more we research and write about leadership, the more confident we become that leadership is within the grasp of everyone (The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner).
• Great leaders are modest and willful, humble and fearless (Good to Great by Jim Collins). 
• The single greatest advantage any company can achieve is organizational health. Yet it is ignored by most leaders even though it is simple, free, and available to anyone who wants it. A smart organization is more about strategy and tactics, while a healthy organization is more about trust, healthy conflict, commitment, and accountability to results (The Advantage by Patrick Lencioni). 
• Leadership is about relationships, about credibility, about passion and conviction, and ultimately about what you do. You don't have to look up for leadership. You don't have to look out for leadership. You only have to look inward (The Leadership Challenge by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner)
• The real challenge is not to return to the level of mediocrity that the prevailing social consciousness agrees on because we don't see anyone else doing what we are doing. True leadership never needs confirmation from others. It just requires a clear vision and a change in energy (Becoming Supernatural by Joe Dispenza). 
• Leadership creates a healthy environment with trust, a vision, key values, goals, and a good example, then supports others with clear expectations, knowledge, skills, and resources, then encourages them with empathy, appreciation of their contribution, inspiration of future possibilities, and autonomy (Opportunity Truth by Jason A. Krause).
• Setting a healthy environment... It all starts with a choice, and when we do not do what we feel we should do, is starts us down a path of focusing on ourselves, and the need to justify the choice, which often distorts truth (Leadership and Self-Deception by The Arbinger Institute).
• There is only one good, knowledge, and one evil, ignorance (Socrates). 
• Your best skill and the fastest way to success is to replace bad habits with good habits (Choose to Win by Tom Ziglar). 
• People who feel good about themselves produce good results (The One Minute Manager by Ken Blanchard and Spencer Johnson). 

Leadership development is supported by professional development and supports business development.

Lead to Win, John Maxwell, Entreleadership, Coaching for Leaders, Dose of Leadership, Growth Think Tank, School of Greatness

The Aspen Institute, Center for Creative Leadership, Leadership Nudges, Front Line Leadership

Send me a quick note on which area of development you are interested in and I will send you a short email each month with some helpful tips on that area of development. I do not spam, sell contact information, or share contact information, and you can unsubscribe at any time.