There is no fixed definition of excellence in leadership, but we all know it when we see it; when we feel it.

There is a different skill set required in managing a project, than there is in leading the team and we all manage and lead in some capacity – whether it’s our children, our family, our community, or our workplace.

We all influence others.

This opens up a conundrum for us – what kind of leaders are we? What is the trail of afterthought we leave behind? Do we inspire people? Would we challenge people to be more than even ourselves?

What kind of leader do we want to be?

In knowing where we are, and knowing where we want to be as a leader – how do we walk towards it in a real, experiential, practical manner -using our own lives as the template for our own improvement?

Large corporates seek to build capacity as a leader by assessing their employees who are judged to be “high potential.” High potential leaders have a suite of leadership experiences, competencies, values and fit with their organization. They identify your specific areas for development and act to build your capacity (Study by Aon Hewitt).

Not all of us work for an organization where we are a good fit. Not all of us will be assessed as high potential and not all of us work well in this environment of support; but the beauty of leadership is that we do not need to be any of these things all the time – we only need to the right person in the moment and practice. Anyone can do that if they are willing to step forward to create change.

Leaders who want to build their total performance will be seeking opportunities to develop and practice their leadership in their lives. Being a leader occurs one moment at a time – sometimes we lead and sometimes we follow. We all build our mastery of leadership in the tapestry of life and our strength as a leader is defined by how we weather all moments in our lives. By playing 100% in life, we hone our leadership skills, and hopefully we evolve into the leader we hoped we would be.

At The Leadership Foundation, we support you to answer these questions for yourself, and provide opportunities for you to be exposed to leadership across a smorgasbord of professions. We create an environment where leaders can reflect on their leadership moments and explore their leadership style. From there, we can build our personal resilience and confidence as a leader, and better our performance as a leader.
We help people to understand the people that follow them, so that they can help create the leaders of tomorrow.

We welcome all new attendees, so if you are a ….

• person newly appointed to a leadership role and want to learn how to be more effective
• captain of a sporting, project or work team
• board member
• person who wants to influence a difficult situation or relationship
• new or experienced manager
• recent graduate of any kind of program
• community organisation office bearer
• leader who wants to develop a group of colleagues
• person who has just been nominated as being high potential ….

…..please join us at one of our events.

By Ian Sampson – Ian is a Cause & Effective Associate and Executive Chair of The Leadership Foundation. The Foundation aims to create opportunities and an environment where you can hold yourself to account and provides the mechanisms and time to reflect on who you are, why you choose to lead, and what matters to you most.