New Leader 101Lesson 3

What’s Your Leadership Philosophy?

What’s Your Leadership Philosophy?

• To this point, you’ve worked on why you want to be a leader and what leadership means to you• The next step is to define your leadership philosophy—the underlying

model you use to lead• This is important because it gives you the “what” and the “how” of the

way you lead• As opposed to leading by the seat of your pants or “instinct”• You have a philosophy whether you know it or not• Better to be explicit about it so that you control it rather than the other way

around

A Couple of Avenues of Approach

• Pick a leader you admire and want to emulate• Colin Powell had his “Thirteen Rules of Leadership”• John Wooden had his “Rules to Live By”• Many others to choose from• Caveat: human beings are fallible so no one you pick will be the perfect

exemplar• Pick a good model or models• Lots of study on leadership, especially over the past 100 years• Many different models, some better than others• I prefer to base my leadership philosophy on proven theories or models of

leadership

A Partial List of Good Leadership Models

• Servant Leadership, Robert Greenleaf• Leader-Member Exchange Theory (LMX)• Transformational Leadership, James MacGregor Burns• Level-5 Leadership, James Collins• Strengths-Based Leadership, Dr. Martin Seligman et al• Flexible Leadership, Gary Yukl• Three Levels of Leadership, James Scouller

Establish Your Own Leadership Philosophy

• Your leadership journey is like one huge leadership laboratory—you’ll learn as you go• Your philosophy provides an anchor for you as you proceed on your

journey• You’ll continue to refine your philosophy as you gain more experience

as a leader• Be able to articulate your philosophy to others: They want to know!

Summary

• Your leadership philosophy is the mental map that guides and directs the way you go about leading• It provides a touchstone for you and your team • You can emulate great leaders or adopt proven theories and models

in order to establish your own• It’s important to continue to refine your philosophy as you continue

on your leadership journey

Homework

• Answer the following questions:

1. What is your current leadership philosophy?2. How did it develop?3. What are the most important elements of your philosophy?4. How well does your leadership philosophy match with your current

role?5. What are some things you can do to improve upon your leadership

model?