Early in my career, I became intrigued with why some effective leaders were successful while others weren't. What made them different? What did they believe in? How did they think, talk, and act? How did teams respond to different leaders, and why?
Working at many different companies during my career, in various roles with leaders, teams, and employees, I identified consistencies between what you might call effective leaders and those who never quite figured it out. I've observed and experienced many situations leaders repeatedly found themselves in, how they handled these situations, what their employees said later in one-off conversations, how the team responded, and how things progressed over months and years.
From all this, I can say without a doubt, the more effective leaders incorporate certain identifiable beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors that lead directly to their success. I can also say without a doubt, there are inherent traits these leaders have that help tremendously, and if someone doesn't possess these traits naturally, they are at a disadvantage. This doesn't mean they can't engage in leadership development to become effective leaders, as we all have the capacity to learn and grow, but it's a much greater challenge.
Another key observation is that each one of us (whether or not you think you are) is in a leadership role today, right now. Most importantly, each of us is the leader of our own life. Many of us are leaders or co-leaders of our families and children. Many of us are leaders in community groups, youth programs, or other groups we're involved with. We're all leaders in some respect, and we should own this.
In my book, I discuss these and many other topics related to effective leaders and the situations they find themselves in from my personal experience (not from third-party information, research teams, or simple interviews) throughout my 47+ year career. These insights are not only valuable regarding leadership in business but also in the more important areas of our personal growth as human beings.