“In the end, leadership needs to lead to results — otherwise, what’s the point?”
Maybe it’s all that studying for actuarial exams early in my career that gave me an affinity for acronyms as a great memory tool. Thus in my coaching practice I’ve developed the HERO story template, the HOMER template, the To CARE template and others.
This led me to create an acronym for leadership, which is, naturally enough, LEADER.
Watch this 4.5 minute video in which I share the details of the acronym, and Dave and I discuss how to apply it.
Now here’s your homework: put the acronym into a simple self-assessment grid and rate yourself on:
- How well you listen
- How much you empathize with your others
- How effectively and appropriately you act
- How you develop your team and yourself
- How you engage others around a mission or direction
- What results you’re achieving
You could even use this as a 360-degree feedback tool — ask your team to rate you and give examples for how you might improve in each area.
(If you’re pressed for time and just want the transcript,
send me an email with the subject line “L is for Leader”.)
A collaboration with David C Miller, Author of The Influential Actuary
Great video. This acronym is a great tool for leaders to check in with themselves. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks, Jennifer!
I like acronyms as a tool. In fact, my favorite acronym is
F(irst)
A(ttempts)
I(n)
L(earning)
Unfortunately, that isn’t how schools see it. If you fail to learn something or if you fail to understand a concept, you are considered to BE a failure. That leads to students being less likely to risk failure. They won’t take a class if they think that they may not be able to learn the material. They are so focused on grades that they become afraid to take risks. They are unable to see that, after you make your first attempt, you are likely to have so much unexpected success. Who knows? You might even find your passion. And why is that? Because you didn’t fear those First Attempts In Learning.
I like that, Alice! Too often, we get conditioned that the success or the best possible grade is what we should always seek. Then when faced with something where success seems too hard, or we might fail, we avoid it.