The Art of Leadership – Lessons from the world of business, sport and beyond.

On September 8^th I was fortunate enough to attend the Art of Leadership Conference here in Calgary and along with several hundred other participants enjoyed a full day of thought provoking and insightful speakers from the worlds of business, sport and beyond. Rather than try and cover all of the points made I’ve picked one key point from each speaker that resonated with me to share with you.

Rudy Giuliani (former Mayor of New York)

“Relentless Preparation” – leaders aren’t made they are developed and to become a leader you need to decide what you want to do and then practice, practice, practice to become good at it. There are no short cuts, continuous personal development is a key ingredient to success.

Chris Hadfield (Astronaut)

“Honestly delegate” – agree the goal with your team and then honestly delegate responsibility to your team and let them the decision. If you’ve trained and developed your people and improved their competence there should be no fear in delegating decision making responsibility to them.

Dan Roam (Author)

“Whoever best describes the problem is the one most likely to solve it” – think outside the box and harness the power of simple pictures to help people visually process the problem. You’d be amazed at how powerful visual processing is - did you know that you can explain virtually anything using only 6 pictures.

Vince Molinaro (Author)

“Leadership is a decision and you have to make it” – are you prepared to step up and be a leader and not simply be a technician with a new title. Often people are promoted into leadership roles from a technical one and this transition requires more than a new title. Leaders are held to a higher standard and you need to be prepared for that and not make your decision lightly.

Hayley Wickenheiser (Athlete)

“Are you an energy giver, or an energy taker?” – as a leader your presence has the ability to energize your team, to motivate and inspire them. However if you are an energy taker your presence has the potential to drain your team’s energy, de-motivate and leave them directionless. Which one are you?

I hope these extracts from the Art of Leadership Conference provide you with food for thought. If you were in attendance too, what were the comments that stuck with you?