5 Ways to Put Leadership in Action

Leadership is about leading others. So, here are 5 ways you can increase your impact. 

1. Ask:  Be curious and ask questions. When speaking with others, when looking at systems, when doing tasks. Ask others and yourself, "What could I do to make this better? Help more people? Make this processes more effective? The less we assume and the more we wonder, we begin the process of innovating new solutions. 

2. Be Open: Make the choice to see things as opportunities for learning, growing and discovering. Throw cynicism and skepticism out the window and allow new ways of thinking, doing and being in - if simply to understand. Being open is a choice to learn and grow, putting your judgments and assumptions aside. 

3. Collaborate:  Work with others who are asking the same questions. It's true that there is power in groups. Don't do things alone. Our world is complex and coming to simple solutions requires seeing things from different vantage points. Be the one who gathers and values others. 

4. Do it: Be the one to initiate and do what needs to be done. Maybe that means mobilizing others to complete a task, or maybe this means you need to take the next best step. The important point is to act. It might not go as planned, but simply adjust your actions and keep going. Think Dory, "just keep swimming." This also requires stopping overthinking and over planning. Plans will change along the way, so embrace the process. 

5. Empathize- Effective leaders "see" the other. Take others experiences, objectives, needs and challenges into consideration. Practice listening and see if you can identify the needs, challenges, and aims. How does their experience inform you? We need to work from a mindset where others matter. 

As you may have noticed, these 5 ways have been organized in an easy way to help you remember: ABCDE - Ask, Be open, Collaborate, Do and Empathize. 

Put your leadership into action today increasing impact and improving the lives of others.