Alexis Branham
BakerHostetler
In the corporate world we’re often asked, “what makes a ‘good leader?’” It can be difficult to pin down “leadership” as a concept and we’re bombarded with books, TED talks, and other experts telling us what we need to do become successful leaders, but most of us have a hard time articulating what exactly a good leader is – and often we feel that “[we] know it when [we] see it” or experience it. Most of us have had “good managers” and “bad managers” but it’s not always simple to pinpoint exactly what it is that separates the best from the rest. Until recently I had not dedicated much time to defining what exactly it is that makes leaders “great”, nor had I determined what leadership skills I personally need to develop during the course of my own career.
This past April I had the privilege of attending the AALL Leadership Academy in Chicago, IL where I was able to dedicate two solid days to learning about management concepts and dedicate some gray matter to really thinking about what it means to be a leader in the modern workplace. I flew to Chicago the day of the “Great American Eclipse of 2024” and prepared to immerse myself in all-things-leadership. Along with a few dozen other AALL members, I listened to our facilitator George Karavattuveetil share his experience as a professional Success Strategist and describe the good and bad that he has seen during his career. As he shared stories with us and facilitated discussion amongst our group about the various skills, and knowledge needed for successful leadership I really started to dig into my own perceptions of what made for a great leader.
Our itinerary provided for discussion on the role of the leader, change and communication, recruitment and retention, performance management, team development and culture, time management as well as touching on networking and professional development. As we worked our way through these topics, I thought carefully about how different supervisors or managers during my career have either successfully or not so successfully embodied these concepts in their roles. How did I, and my colleagues respond to these supervisors’ management styles and how did their professional development and management tactics effect my development as an employee and future leader? And most importantly, could I identify the skills and values those successful leaders had that made me want to succeed and then work to cultivate them in myself?
Through my participation in the Leadership Academy and through my own personal career experiences I have learned that developing leadership skills requires intention. No one wakes up one day as the “Ideal Leader” and many excellent leaders I have had the pleasure of working with never truly feel like they have “arrived.” It takes work and continuous development to become and stay a great leader. I learned that it takes a learning mindset, humility and self-awareness and the ability and willingness to adapt to those you’re managing. Identifying your leadership values like this is a great first step into becoming a good leader – pinpoint the characteristics that you found valuable and work on those, learn the styles of those around you and ask what they appreciate in a leader and work on those things too.
In one of our final Leadership Academy sessions George made a point that really stuck with me. While discussing workplace culture George explained that there are three levels of culture in any organization institutional culture, team culture, and personal culture – and while you can influence the first two to some degree depending on your role, the only category you have 100% control over is your personal culture. This reinforced the idea that becoming a good leader requires personal development and is an individual decision. While there are always challenges and we don’t always get to choose our colleagues or managers – we do have the power to be the influence that we want to see in our organizations. This reminder was valuable for me and placed the power and responsibility for my own personal and professional development firmly in my own hands. I can seek out mentors that embody the characteristics I want to have, I can embody the values I think will make my workplace better and be a positive influence on whatever team I find myself working with.
On Firmer Ground 