What is your leadership philosophy?
This week my friend Dr. Neal Anderson is taking over The Data Daily emails. He’s the Founder of CARTO Leadership, a leadership development and coaching firm. This week he’s writing about leadership. Read his email from Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday
“What is your leadership philosophy?”
Imagine being asked this question in an interview for that job you aspire to. How would you respond? Like many, you’d probably say something about listening first, developing your team, and making sure people were well-resourced to do the job.
That’s fine, but is it good enough to lead?
One of the underlying assumptions we have at CARTO Leadership is that many leaders are unnecessarily floundering, not because of a lack of desire to lead, but because they’ve lacked guidance and support to intentionally grow their leadership skills.
If you’re curious about what a leadership philosophy might look like, here are a couple of examples you might consider:
1. SERVANT LEADERSHIP: a focus and attention on putting the follower first.
“Servant leaders put followers first, empower them, and help them develop their full personal capabilities” (Northouse, 2013).
2. TRANSFORMATIONAL LEADERSHIP: a focus on appealing to motivation.
“It is concerned with emotions, values, ethics, standards, and long-term goals” (Northouse, 2013).
3. LEAD, DEVELOP, CARE: a focus on the holistic components of leading people.
“For leadership to inspire a solid, trust-based relationship, it needs to be purposeful and planned” (Cook, 2021).
Regardless of what your leadership philosophy is, it must be intentional.
In September CARTO Leadership hosted our first-ever 1-Day Leadership Retreat outside Denver, Colorado. The cohort-based learning approach offered a great setting to dive into many topics, especially team development. We focused on Cook’s model of Lead, Develop, and Care as it provides the framework for the type of leader the CARTO team seeks to support and build.
So, what’s your leadership philosophy? Can you articulate it in a sentence or two? If so, we’d love to hear from you! Hit reply and let us know how you approach leading.
If you’re unsure, consider connecting with us for a free session to learn more about how we serve and support leaders in their leadership development. CARTO Leadership serves clients in a variety of industries around the world.
Neal Anderson, PhD
