What do you believe about leadership? What do you know about leaders in general? What are your personal convictions as a leader? What is the truth about organizational leadership? Why is team leadership so critical?

Tough questions, aren’t they?

Everyday, we demonstrate our beliefs through our actions and those actions speak volumes. However, we also need to be able to tell people what we believe in our heart and in our mind. As leaders, we need to be prepared for that conversation.

Sharing your beliefs is also a great opportunity to help someone grow. Engaging your emerging leaders in this conversation challenges them to clarify their own beliefs. As you walk around your teams, stop and ask what they believe about leadership. It could be a very enlightening conversation, for them and for you.

If you’re having difficulty verbalizing your beliefs, here are some prompts to help you get started:

To me, leadership is _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.

I believe leaders are _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.

As a leader, I _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.

In an organization like ours, leadership _____ _____ _____ _____ _____.

On our teams, the leader _____ _____ _____ ____ _____.

Once you’ve refined your leadership philosophy, print it out and post it in your workspace. Now and then, check your behaviors against it to make sure that your words and actions are in alignment.

Lead on!

Can I help? If you want to have a conversation about how to engage your emerging leaders on this topic, click here to send me an email. I’d love to chat! -El