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We all love receiving a box of chocolates for Valentine’s Day. But what if our leadership abilities were represented by a box of chocolates?

If you’ve kept up with our ten-part series on what it takes to be an effective modern leader, you’ll see a theme of giving. A great leader gives respect to others before they receive it. A great leader gives time and attention to their community. A great leader gives an example of self-respect through the way they dress. A great leader even gives themselves time for reflection and the grace of knowing the value of recharging their brains through scheduled quiet time.

Blockbuster. Kodak. Toys R Us. We’ve all heard of these former titans of industry, right? As recent as 15 to 20 years ago they were the best in their respective fields, but all have filed bankruptcy or are shut down completely.

On rare occasions, when we go into work environments to teach and coach on leadership development, we sometimes encounter leaders that are a bit guarded. For whatever reason, there can be an element of feeling like, “These guys don’t know what it takes to lead in my position,” or “I lead just fine, and I don’t need this stuff.”

566 times during a workday. We probably don’t think we do anything 566 times a day, but that’s the average amount of times a person switches tasks at work

I didn’t know it at the time, but when I was young, there were countless leaders around my small community that helped shape and influence me to become the man I am today.

If you’re a strong leader within your organization, people are looking to you for guidance. Your actions and your intentions are noticed, and like a child that tends to reflect the actions of an adult they admire, those working for you will follow suit.

“If you’re the smartest person in the room, you’re in the wrong room.”
We’ve heard this common phrase, right? The idea behind the quote is to surround yourself with smart people, have intelligent insights and conversations, and elevate the way you think to a higher level; all of which can be very important.

We see a lot of shouting in today’s world. Watch the news, scroll through social media feeds, or walk into the workplace and we can find individuals doing anything they can to prove to someone else why they should feel a certain way…