Table of Contents
- Connection, not transaction.
- Have an accountability partner.
- Ask for feedback.
- Talk less, listen more.
- Become the change you wish to see.
- Approach leadership as a steward.
- Understand your own potential.
- Listen more and listen differently.
- Look within.
- Ask for direct feedback.
- Value relationships over your systems.
- Listen.
- Have a servant mindset.
- Cultivate your emotional intelligence.
- Invest In Yourself And Your People.
A big part of what we do at Deliberate Directions is to focus on developing and growing leaders. We help our clients create a deliberate set of leadership practices that help them process decisions and remove roadblocks so they can confidently achieve their goals. Our focus is on developing deliberate leaders that connect, engage and inspire their teams.
We move leaders from frustration and indecision to confident and inspired to grow their impact on others. Our focus is on developing the leaders’ ability to engage with others, navigate change successfully, and perform in their leadership roles more effectively.
As our Deliberate Leaders podcast has grown and we are able to interview leadership experts from across the country, we have asked them what their number 1 leadership tip is. Here are what some of these experts, CEO’s and authors have shared. Plus stay tuned for my number 1 leadership tip!
Tip #1: Leaders should focus on connection, not transaction
“Connection, not transaction. I think one thing that we’ve learned is that we are human beings, and we crave that human connection. And as we re-engage with our work, thinking thoughtfully about the humans that we work with, that we lead is so a central and I know at this time many of us are focused on are we going back to the office, what does it look like safety protocols schedules, all of which are important. We got to lead first with that connection and that human piece. ”
– Carson Tate, author of Own It. Love It. Make It Work.
Tip #2: Have an accountability partner
“Have an accountability partner. For me, as a startup founder, I discovered that having somebody outside of my company and off of my team, that I could be completely honest with and someone to help me set goals and wade through all the inputs, and then follow up week by week to see how did I do on those goals. For me, having that one person every two weeks that I could just, you know, just unload on was super helpful.”
– Danielle Gillespie, Founder of Ideas Last
Tip #3: Ask for feedback on a regular basis
“I would say that asking for feedback on a regular basis is probably the most important thing you can do as a leader to a become a better leader, learn how to become a leader, better leader and create that, that psychological safety. ”
– Michael Timms, author of How Leaders Can Inspire Accountability
Tip #4: Talk less, listen more
“it is so fundamental and yet so powerful – talk less, listen more! At the end of the day, if leaders just walked away, talking less and listening more, asking good questions, giving people the floor, giving folks the space to think and reflect and to come up with their own ideas and to own solutions, to build relationships. ”
– Julie Winkle Guilioni, author of Promotions Are So Yesterday
Tip #5: Become the change you wish to see
“It would be to become the change you wish to see, following on that iconic thought from Gandhi. I think it’s really about looking inward and focusing on yourself, not others. ”
– Kevin Hancock, CEO of Hancock Lumber
Tip #6: Approach leadership as a steward
“I would say to approach leadership as a steward. And to me that is a person who’s fully invested in something bigger than themselves. ”
– David York, Estate Planning Attorney and CPA
Tip #7: Understand your own potential.
“Understand your own potential and in my belief, all individuals have infinite potential and when you as a leader believe in your own potential, then you will see the potential and everyone else and that is the core of everything. ”
– Gaurav Bhatnagar, co-author of Unfear: Transform Your Business
Tip #8: Listen more and listen differently.
“ I think it’s that we just need to listen more and maybe listen differently. So many of us think we listen, but we’re just in this day and age where I think listening is very different and listening is empathizing. But listening is also really trying to understand and put yourself in the other person’s shoes. So I think that would be my feedback. We all need to listen better and we’re in a moment where listening I feel is evolving and is very different than what it meant 10 years ago”
– Deepa Purushothaman, author of The First, The Few, The Only
Tip #9: Look within.
“Look within. I mean, so many come to mind, but I would just start with look within. It’s almost like dating. People would say who’s my dream person. Who’s my soulmate? It’s like, okay, once you figured out what you want, then do you deserve that? Are you a person that deserves the ideal person? Are you a leader that deserves to be followed? So look within and constantly try to improve yourself.”
– Jeffrey Klubeck, author of The Integrity Game
Tip #10: Ask for direct feedback
“I’m a big believer in direct feedback. I think that it’s a little bit old and dated, but that notion of one-minute manager of giving really clear feedback really sort of demonstrates our leadership. I’ve got a little model that I use to try to do that, that I find is really valuable is you sort of reference here’s what I observed, here’s the impact that it has on me and here’s a recommendation. And so really giving clear and deliberate feedback I find to be a valuable leadership tool. ”
– Bill Coletti, CEO of Kith.co and author of Critical Moments
Tip #11: Value relationships over your systems
“Value relationships over your systems and strategies. We can dive into that a little bit more, but, but I’ll just go ahead and leave it with that just like with just a very blanket answer, like that of valuing your relationships more than you value your systems and your strategies. ”
– Michael King, CEO of Teams.Coach
Tip #12: Listen.
“Listening for me is the number one tip for leaders. Because without listening, there can be no story to tell. And that’s what I’m all about is storytelling. And I want the stories to be impactful. But if nobody’s listening, no matter how great your story is wonderful your presentation is and you’ve got great visuals and you’ve rehearsed it, you know, to no end. If you show up and it doesn’t land and nobody’s listening to you, then it won’t have any impact. So that’s my number one tip is keep listening and don’t take listening for granted. Just do it”
– Jerome Deroy, CEO of Narativ
Tip #13: Have a servant mindset
“I think what I’ve learned over the years is to develop as a leader is to have a servant mindset. I always set out to employ people who are much smarter and much better at their role than me, and so I always meet with all of my direct reports and ask them, how can I knock down walls? How can I remove obstacles and barriers and make you run faster this week? That typically sums up my leadership style. I like to get out of people’s way and let them do what they do. ”
– Bryan Adams, author of Give and Get Employer Branding
Tip #14: Cultivate your emotional intelligence
“Cultivate your emotional intelligence. Because I believe that our ability to master walking with our fears, our stress and anxiety, unlock our ability to bend reality in the direction that we want.”
– Victoria Song, author of Bending Reality
Tip #15: Invest In Yourself And Your People
“My top leadership tip is invest in your greatest assets – yourself and your people. You have to do the inner work in order to show up at your best for both yourself and your people. Invest in learning, personal and skill set development. Make growth a priority as a leader and as a business owner if you want to succeed.”
– Allison Dunn, CEO of Deliberate Directions and Founder of Deliberate Leaders podcast
