Where does leadership come from?

Are leaders born or created? We've all seen the spark of natural leadership in someone. Looking at those people we think that they have it easy. The fact of the matter is, leadership is just like football, ballroom dancing, or acting. The people who have the natural talent can sometimes fall behind those with less talent but more commitment to old-fashioned hard work. True leaders combine natural talent with personal reflection, continued study, and practice.

Over the past year, I began the process of studying leadership. My path is just beginning but I'm hoping you'll come with me. I'll be looking at some of the current books and theories in the marketplace. I would love to hear your suggestions and your stories of places you've seen great leadership in action - remember to keep them anonymous. Thank you for joining me on this journey!

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Receiving Feedback

We've all read lots of books and articles on giving feedback, but what is the best way to receive feedback? My default response used to be to explain my position, show how I do what the person is asking, or show how I wanted to but someone else prevented me. If I am caught off guard or stressed, these are still my gut instincts. However, I have learned two much more constructive ways to respond to feedback that I strive to use more often. The first started as I became more self-aware and felt comfortable and safe acknowledging and working on my weaknesses. If someone points something I am aware of and I feel safe (i.e., it is pointed out in a private forum versus a public forum) the best thing I can do is say "I know, do you have any suggestions or advice that will help me?" If someone has the courage to step out of their comfort zone to point out a way I can improve, it is a safe bet they've thought about it beforehand. The second way to handle...

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What an Extraverted Intuitive Needs to be Productive

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) is based on the work of Swiss psychiatrist Carl G. Jung. Jung observed that people have inborn preferences for gathering information and making decisions and that these preferences guide an individual’s behavior. The mother/daughter team of Katherine Cook Briggs and Isabel Briggs Myers expanded on Jung’s theories and created an assessment to make the combined work accessible to all individuals. Today, the assessment is used by most Fortune 100 companies and over two million people worldwide, annually. The assessment identifies an individual’s inborn preferences on four dichotomous scales: where you focus your energy, how you prefer to take in information, how you make decisions, and how you deal with the outer world. Type is best used to understand other people, improve communication, and develop individual skills. The first dichotomy is Extraversion (gets energy from other people) and Introversion (gets energy from reflection). The second...

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