When it comes to leadership, most people focus on the activities that good leaders must accomplish or the leadership attributes they should possess or develop. Here Diane Johnson and Bruce Hamilton share some things that leaders need to understand about themselves and the impact they have on others that are just as important.

1. 7 things about leadership
that most people
don’t know*
*Including why it’s like karate

2. When it comes to leadership, most people focus on the activities
that good leaders must accomplish or the leadership attributes
they should possess or develop.

3. Here are 7 things that leaders need to
understand about themselves that are just
as important.

4. It is the doing, not the knowing
that really counts
It’s important for a leader to have a coherent strategy
but the key to success is execution. Brilliant execution
can rescue a poor strategy but it doesn’t matter how
good the strategy is if the execution is lousy.
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5. Leadership is just like karate
You never reach the point of knowing all there is to know.
It is a lifelong journey of discovery and rediscovery
so never content yourself with the present.
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6. Something to think about when you do that next assessment...
You will impact other people’s
lives in a profound way3

7. Stay healthy
Mastery of your own health and wellbeing is a prerequisite for
leading with resilience when the going gets tough.
Leadership is not just intellectual, emotional and attitudinal,
it’s also physical!
4

8. Treat relationships like
bank accounts
If you take out more than you put in you will quickly get
into trouble. As with money, so with relationships
– it pays to stay in credit.
5

9. Acts of kindness
make you memorable
It is often simple and spontaneous acts of kindness that
make a leader particularly memorable –perhaps because
they are unexpected.
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10. Everyone is equally a member of
the team, including the leader
Treat your fellow team members with equal respect and
consideration to show you really are all in it together. Small
gestures, such as getting the morning brews, doing the butty
run, or tidying up the communal kitchen, are powerful ways
to reaffirm your membership status.
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11. The first step in personal development is self-awareness
– knowing what you need to reinforce and what to work on.

12. The second step is to take responsibility
for doing something about it.

13. This is especially important, as we never see ourselves as others see us.

14. TLP can provide you with that extra perspective, one that will
develop your self-awareness and kick-start improvement
so why not get in touch and find out how?

15. Diane Johnson
Bruce Hamilton