Get Ready to Be Your Best Leader

As a leader, you have influence over your team. Your influence can lead to someone 

choosing a different action, thought, or path because of their interactions with you.

There are some deeper definitions of leadership, too.

One of my favorites comes from James Kouzes and Barry Posner:  

“Leadership is the art of mobilizing others to want to struggle for shared aspirations.”

This definition highlights three key elements: 

1️⃣Leadership is an art, not a science. There is no single approach to this. It looks different depending on the leader, the context, and the followers.

2️⃣Mobilizing others: Leadership is about moving people and inspiring them to take action.

3️⃣Inspiring a shared struggle: Leadership motivates people to do something hard for a shared aspiration or goal—a direction we all believe in and are moving toward. 

As a leader, consider the needs of your team.  

In the book, Strengths-Based Leadership, Gallup breaks down leadership based on follower needs: trust, compassion, stability, and hope.

How can you include these as you get ready to be your best leader?  

🟣Trust: Your team needs to know that as their leader, not only are you trustworthy but that you believe in them, see who they are, and are willing to trust them to do the real work.

🟣Compassion: Your team needs to feel seen, known and valued. As a leader it goes a long way when you have compassion for their lives in and outside work.

🟣Stability: Your team want to be in a stable place. When going through change, be transparent, so that your team understands the change and why it’s happening.

🟣Hope: Your team needs to feel that they can hope for the future and see that things will be better. When people have hope, they are more willing to work towards the shared vision together. 

The Four Domains of Strength

Leadership is an art, and all leaders do things a little bit differently.

When we use the CliftonStrengths assessments, there are four domains of strength. Those domains can help us consider how each person's leadership might differ. 

Relationship Building

If you lead with relationship-building strengths you  will focus on understanding your team by getting to know them, and spending time with them.

Strategic Thinking

When you lead with strategic thinking, you approach situations with careful consideration. Most people view you as an expert in your field because you come prepared with comprehensive data and information, and you present your plans clearly and methodically.

Executing

An executing leader is really great at making things happen and getting things done.

If this is your strength, you tend to lead from the trenches, working through issues with your team together. You may not be as visionary as a strategic thinker, but your team knows what you say you will do, will get done.  

Influencing

Leaders who excel in influencing themes are highly inspirational and brimming with ideas.

If this is you, you tend to guide from a big-picture perspective, helping your team see the significance of their contributions and making them feel valued. 

Be the Best Version of You

Going through these four domains, you can see how leadership can look really different depending on which kind of leader you are, and your strengths. 

There is no one single best type of leader to be - the key is to understand your strengths and lean into them so you can be the best leader you can.  

If you’re interested in seeing your strengths in action, I would love to talk to you about possibly working with you or your team. We can use the CliftonStrengths for Leaders report to figure out how you can become the best version of a leader you can be. Book your session now.