What it Takes to be a Good Leader

I’d like to share some ideas about what it takes to be a good leader. Leadership.

Image of a blackboard with a hand holding orange chalk drawing a series of arrows on it — What it takes to be a good leader

Take a listen to this talk by Roselinde Torres and find her LeanIn questions here.

She distills the best qualities of leaders into three elements:

1. The ability to see changes that may be on the horizon and prepare for them

2. Networking skills that bring various perspectives to the work

3. The willingness to take some risks and abandon practices that may have been successful in the past but no longer serve the team

The reflection questions below may give you insight into your own practices and habits (and maybe encourage a change or two!):

What are your skill levels as they pertain to those three qualities?
Take a moment to think about, as she suggests, how you spend your time–do you allow yourself the opportunities to develop in these three ways?
Are you cultivating your team to be leaders?

What do you think about her distillation of leadership qualities? I would add skills around trusting and transparent communication to her very valuable list. To me, trusting and transparent communication is critical to giving and receiving feedback and to ensuring that your team is helping you to see what is on the horizon.

Have you considered watching TED talks like this one with your own teams? I have always appreciated leaders and managers who ensure that I keep learning and developing. Plus, they are short enough to fit into team meetings or over a lunch break. How do you help to foster growth and development in your team and in yourself?

Continue your team discussion with prompts found in this post!

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