Thoughts on Leadership - Prologue.

In the next 10 Episodes, I will share the 10 traits that in my opinion, are the keys to great leadership. Over the last 10+ years, I've collected hundreds of leadership thoughts, lists and quotes, boiled them down, and curated my own Top 10 List.  These are in a specific order, build on each other and work in concert with each other. But you will have to tune in for the next 10 weeks to see them all!

​Over my 40+ year career I have been molded, affected, and influenced by the leaders in my life. At times positively, but unfortunately many times negatively. While I don't believe (in most cases) the negative effects of poor leadership were deliberate, I do believe it is likely that many get management and leadership confused. I have spent the last 15 years trying to sort this out and have given my "Essentials of Leadership" presentation over 100 times and want to share some of the key thoughts with you. Thanks for coming along on this personal journey.

Leadership is about people, not outcomes. Think about that for a second.​

Management is about outcomes. Imagine someone on an assembly line, putting something together, stocking shelves, delivering a package. All good tasks, but mostly based on outcomes because you have a certain number of items you must output in a defined period. There is a hierarchy of supervisors and managers whose job it is to produce, That's outcome-based management, not leadership.

Leadership is about people. Leadership focuses on people, not outcomes. It doesn't mean that outcomes aren't important because great outcomes are always a result of great people doing great work. So, if you have great people and they are led well, understand the mission, know what needs to be done, and you're coaching them, guiding them, leading them, you will get great outcomes. Great leadership produces great people, and great outcomes.

So, if leadership is about people and management is about outcomes, then you must have the right people on your team. Choose great people, train them, make sure they understand what they're supposed to do and why, lead them, guide them, and apply some of the principles you are going to hear in future episodes, you will get great people who will produce great outcomes. You will be a better leader.​