What are you going to do? A Leadership Recipe for Success

It doesn't matter where you work, what your title is, or what you do, you can lead. You can be one of the people that others look to for guidance, modelling, and/or answers. Whether others look to you or not, you'll have to make decisions, whether it's on your own or collaboratively. Improve yourself and your leadership by improving your leadership skills, understanding your locus of control, knowing what your core values are, and being authentic to yourself and others.

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Want to improve upon your leadership skills, check out the graphic below.

There are tons of resources on the internet that you can find and use to develop your leadership skills and mindset. Don't want to do this alone? Reach out to 2-3 leaders you respect/admire and ask them to mentor you. How do they lead? What do they do when decisions need to be made? A couple of questions for you to reflect on as you observe and learn.

Read, listen, watch, talk...do what you need to do to grow and develop. 

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When they look at you, what are you going to do? When something goes wrong, what are you going to do? When you see an injustice, what are you going to do?

Know what is in your control and start from there. 

You certainly don't want "...a lifetime of frustration and misery." so take advantage of what is in your control - how you treat others, how you treat yourself, and how you think and feel. Set yourself up so that you can push away the things you can't control (how others treat each other, how others treat you, how others feel) as you respond to a situation. 

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Know what you value, communicate that to others in your actions and your words. Make them a priority and know that when you honor them and live by them, it will reduce chaos in your mind and help you sleep better at night. 

Not sure what you value or struggle to name them? Check out this great list by Brene Brown. As you learn and unlearn on your journey, your values could change. So it's important that you revist and reflect on them often.

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Last but not least, if you if you don't know what to do, don't pretend like you know. Don't ignore the situation. Do something. Even it means declaring that you are unsure, you are doing something. 

I totally disagree with faking it until you make it. How about you acknowledge where you are and make a plan that will help you learn and/or understand something better. Here is a great article on alternatives to faking it until making it. 

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Take time to reflect on where you are at on your leadership journey and what you can do to boost yourself. It doesn't matter what your role is, improving your leadership skills, understanding your locus of control, knowing what your core values are, and being authentic to yourself and others is going to benefit you no matter where you are or what you do. What are you going to do? You are going to get better!

If you are an Ontario educator and interested in a formal leadership position, make sure to check out the Ontario Leadership Framework or the Ontario Catholic Leadership Framework. Become familiar with the framework, reflect on the work you do and whether it aligns with the framework, do the work and connect it to the framework!! 

Reach out if you have questions/comments.