37. Leaders show up. Ya! That is the whole point, the leader always shows up. They understand the power of relationship, of connection, of presence. A leader will be present. This concept is so fundamental as to be obvious and hard to even write about.Challenge: The next time you find yourself in an uncertain or […]

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36. Leaders give respect. Have you ever heard of transformational leadership?  It is in my estimation the most effective model. It involves the leader helping followers to transcend their own personal goals for a larger meaningful goal. One aspect of the leader in this model is their ability to see the best of their team. […]

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35. Leaders are community organizers
Well apparently they are, Barack Obama. Need we say more
Challenge: Leading in a volunteer community role is a powerful way to do a leadership gut check. Take on a role, do a crappy job and see if anyone follows, not likely. So that is the challenge, volunteer for a community […]

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34. Leaders know: Energy begets energy.
Way back when I was a teen I noticed something strange. I had certain friends I really wanted to be around. It was like they radiated energy, you could literally recharge yourself in their presence. I never forgot those early experiences. At the time I was too young to […]

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33. Leaders wear their passion on their sleeve 
In 2005 I conducted a research study into the origins of leadership. My goal was to understand the early signs and behaviors of emergent leadership. My theory was that if you could identify from new leaders the characteristics and behaviors common in them you might be able to […]

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32. Leaders love technology. 
Yup they do. I am writing a blog managing a website sharing what I know about effective leadership. 4 years ago I did not think that “blog” was a word. Actually it wasn’t yet! I carry an I Phone that makes me feel almost ready to get on the bridge of the […]

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31. Leaders honor the assassins in their own organizations. 
I think this rule is a load of crap actually. Maybe it’s the wording but I have no intention of honoring assassins. Again it’s in the wording. I do believe in encouraging those with alternate points of view, those who challenge the system. Heck I am one […]

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30. But leaders have to deliver, so they worry about throwing the baby out with the bathwater. I love Peter’s argument here, the cognitive dissonance between the need for execution order and systems with the need for creative destruction and rebirth. Holding these two opposing needs in one’s mind can be incredibly difficult. A leader must […]

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29. Leaders never get caught fighting the last war. Leaders see around corners. They have the ability to take seemingly random bits of information, to take interactions in the world around them and build from these a picture in their intuition of what the future can hold, should hold. Then they look for evidence to support […]

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28. Leaders don’t fall prey to their own success.A leader is someone who almost never “arrives” They cannot truly “make it” because there is another hill to take, another change to make, another rule to break. ;-)It is one thing to recognize you are successful but leaders recognize that success as a leader is achieved […]

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