Leadership: It’s who we are at our core

Trail-blazing, core, new leadership is having its 2025 moment right now.

Who are you naturally at your core?

Here's why ask:

Many young people (actually all of us!) tend to sell ourselves short when it comes to confidently identifying leadership strengths; there always seems to be a bit of a stutter step when asked to describe: "When and where do you feel strong and aligned?"

Leadership resides in all of us at any stage of development.

Reflect for a minute.

Start with your sweet spot. Begin inside your comfort zone. Hearken back to those situations where others have noticed your contribution and where you have brought value. What were you doing and how were you doing it?

A simple, impactful success story:

Recently, working with my twenty-something client, they shared that they were not necessarily the leader type; that they are more comfortable in the background serving in a support role.  

Fair enough. 

Because the world needs all of us just the way we are. And yet ... with more conversation, and as our work together deepened, it was interesting to discover that my client is 100% the go-to person for those in their workplace who need an ear, an objective listener, and a supportive colleague with insightful ideas. 

Indeed, she is that quiet mentor; the one who waits to be needed or noticed and then humbly contributes by offering intuitive advice. Most importantly, she leads with a feeling of non judgemental safety.

Helping people see themselves in new and unexpected ways is part of the work of coaching. In this case, unexpectedly identifying my client's own leadership style, despite age or experience or old stories we often tell ourselves, was one of their big take aways.

Identify your own Leadership style:

Quiet Observer / Leads from Behind – This leader steps back to help other people step forward, and in doing so, objectively observes interactions, gaps, and next steps, and then they get busy getting stuff done.

Out in Front - Sometimes the impassioned “rah rah guy” carrying the flag gets a bad wrap, but we need them.  We need that over-the-top energy and motivation to get the team aligned and rallied behind one unified vision.

The Quiet Visionary - This leader, not only sees the big picture, but notes the gaps and can anticipate obstacles; sometimes called searchlight intelligence - the one that can see beyond the bend in the road.

Articulates the Way Forward / Communicates the Vision - Words matter when galvanizing support with all the varied stakeholders to unify and communicate the vision. This type of leader relies on their skilled verbal expression and persuasive messaging.

The Empath - Cares for people first. They easily see individual’s or team’s strengths and gets them on the right seat on the bus, the right committee, tasked with the best role, and has the ability to generate a team identity.

Strategic Thinker - Step-by-step, task-by-task this leader is able to map out the detailed plan, and then sleuth out the best people to take the team to the next level.

Creative Problem Solver - This leader loves the seemingly impossible obstacle or challenge. They come at challenges sideways, backwards, upside down, and inside out to cleverly come up with viable solutions.

Bottom line. All of us leaders in our own unique way.