Just when you think you have a handle on things in your career – wham!  something happens and you have to adapt.  Yet, the skills that you develop over your career – whether you are just beginning, have 25 years, or even 50 years – will help you make what ever change is necessary.

These necessary skills aren’t taught in the classroom in the traditional sense.  These skills are taught one-on-one through mentoring relationships and practice in various settings.  You have probably found that there are safe places to practice these skills – within the family, informal groups, and volunteer organizations – and not so safe places – within the workplace.  These skills are related to your leadership acumen.

Every one has some level of “leadership” skill.  Yet leadership is made up of a number of skills that combined define your personal leadership style, success, and comfort.  There are multiple smaller individual skills such as networking, communication, technical knowledge, understanding personality types, reading of body language, etc. Developing these individual skills refine your personal leadership style.  And, continued development and practice are essential to your career advancement and personal growth – and ultimately your definition of success.

Over the past 25 years, I have been collecting leadership articles, tips, and tools of the trade.  There is a great deal of research and experience that goes along with much of this information.  This research has been done by experts such as the Gallup Organization, and other Leadership Institutes.  There are scholarly articles in the business literature like the Harvard Business Review.  Leadership advice can be found in children’s literature, movies, and even the daily newspaper.

But, what I have found is that leadership is developed and communicated through mentoring relationships, practice, and a sense of self.  Through out my career, I have tried to communicate elements of ways to enhance your leadership skills as well as the fundamental “nuggets” or “essentials” that are needed to help you in your personal career path.

Hopefully, this blog – will help to communicate these lessons and provide links to useful material.  There will be humor, frustrations, and mishaps shared.  But, the idea is to present leadership as not as a concept but as something you do everyday.  Hopefully, it will help you refine your personal style and let you learn from the experience of others.