Customized Leadership

'As a leader, you have the potential to improve—but you have to work at it. You have to want to get better if you’re going to become an effective leader. Why is this important? Because as a leader, you have an opportunity to help your people grow. But to positively impact others, you have to be willing to keep learning and growing yourself. You have to work on your own development.



Fortunately, it is possible to get a little better each day as a leader. If you’re willing to put in the time, you can learn and apply new skills on a consistent basis. And, given today’s pace of change, you can’t wait for the organisation to bring leadership training to you; you have to work on your own game...In the end, leadership is about the people you lead… not about you. Which begs the question: Is this how you’re looking at leadership? Are you spending your time on the right big things, and is one of those things people development? Are you going out of your way to raise the profile of your employees? What if you volunteered your leadership skills for a nonprofit organisation?


How about teaching a class at the corporate university? Finally, what is your plan for succession? These are the questions that will help you make the transition from ‘it’s about me’ to ‘it’s about others.’


If you manage other people, you’ve been given a great gift—the opportunity to change people’s lives. If you’re going to make that kind of a difference, you need to take your leadership skills to a new level. That means taking control of your own learning agenda. Start by creating a customized leadership development plan—one that says: “I care about becoming a better leader.” Steve Arneson - Work On Your Game