How can you stand out in a crowded field of leadership candidates?

Self-awareness is the cornerstone of effective leadership. Understanding your strengths and areas for growth is essential in shaping your unique leadership style.

Once you've identified your strengths or tendencies, document specific times you displayed them. If you tell someone you're "Woo" or "LMNOP" it likely won't mean much to them. However, if you can verbally paint a picture for them that helps show who you are, or are trying to be, then you start to differentiate yourself from others.

I use a valuable tool when striving to understand my strengths and weaknesses as a leader: a notebook. My Leuchtturm 1917 graph notebook is filled with self reflection of what I do well as a leader and where I could improve. A couple journal prompts I'd recommend to someone new to journaling: 1. What is your greatest strength? Describe a time this strength truly helped you out. 2. What is your greatest weakness? Describe a time this weakness held you back These questions will get you started. Remember: be kind to yourself.

As a leadership coach and mentor, my approach is simple. Build trust by finding a common ground. As an experienced professional, I always have good stories to tell. Either of success or failure. Then, apply your knowledge about those experiences, the lessons learned, in order to generate a purpose. If you succeeded, encourage and lead by example. If you failed, you know that they must do it differently. Being humble and transparent, will build engagement, respect and commitment to deliver.

A SWOT analysis for self goes a long way. This will help you identify context of yours (Strength and Weakness) and external factors (Opportunities and Threats). This will help you to focus on a narrow and niche area which will make you stand out.

If you want to stand out as a leader that is continuously working on yourself, in addition to seeking out and taking opportunities for growth, tell others you're doing them. If they know, you'll be recognized not only for the skills you've developed, but also the leadership qualities it took to get there.

Actively seeking out challenges and opportunities is key to standing out as a leader. This approach not only hones your abilities but also demonstrates a willingness to innovate and adapt. Taking on extra responsibilities and engaging in cross-functional projects broadens your understanding of the business, enabling more informed decision-making. Pursuing professional development underscores your commitment to lifelong learning. All these efforts contribute to enhancing your leadership profile and building a strong network, which bolsters your reputation and credibility within your organization and industry.

Start small. Identify an area that needs just a little improving, make a plan, volunteer to implement it, and recruit someone to assist. Get that person’s perspective and input to incorporate into the plan.

Plain and simple: seek out opportunities and challenges. If you want to stand out as a leader you'll need to understand that opportunities and challenges aren't just given to you. You'll need to step outside of your comfort zone and find them. This is a great way to test your mettle and stand out amongst your peers. Document what you learn along the way and share your knowledge with others. Be a true steward of your profession.

Whether you're updating your resume, preparing for an interview, or seeking an internal promotion, it's critical to highlight the impact of your work so your (potential) employer can clearly understand how your past accomplishments inform the value you'll bring as a leader. This isn't the time for humility so don't hold back. Be bold in sharing exactly how your leadership enabled your team to successfully hit goals, scale revenue, and boost employee engagement - and by exactly how much (always infuse data when it's available). Pro tip: Maintain an evergreen log of your wins, achievements, and positive feedback you receive so it's easy to reference when you need it.

Write a list of projects, change initiatives or any other significant development that you have led on. Break it down into these three simple parts. It makes it easy to remember in any situation. 1. What did you notice? / What was the issue? 2. What did you do as a result? 3. What was the impact? The third point is the most important. Some people get caught up in telling the story and forget about showing the impact.

To differentiate yourself among leadership contenders, craft a distinctive leadership approach rooted in your unique strengths and values. Establish your authority by sharing valuable insights through various channels such as writing, speaking engagements, and targeted networking within your industry. Utilize social media platforms to exhibit your expertise and engage meaningfully. Pursue speaking opportunities, mentorship roles, and leadership positions in professional associations while maintaining a strong online presence that authentically portrays your accomplishments and skills. Consistency, authenticity, and a dedicated focus will elevate your standing amidst the competitive landscape of leadership candidates.

A leader's mettle is derived from his presence. If the team feels empowered in his presence then the leader is good one. If the team feels suffocated when around or happy when is not around then it's time to relook at his leadership

In my experience, being seen, present and available, are key for the success. Observation is my secret weapon Never be afraid to talk or listen to anyone. Be confident, have an open posture, smile and remain available for future meetings or encounters. The game changer about stakeholder management is: - Stakeholders are people too. They have strengths, power, influence and some times, seem to be on a higher stage than you are. However, they also have bad days, moving motivators and interests. Be sure that you open your mouth about what you are certain about, to build credibility. Never be afraid to say: “I don’t know” and always complete with “I’ll get back to you with the information you need”.

Feedback is a blessing. Personally, I embrace every feedback I receive and strive to be better every time. While providing feedback, is important to have mutual trust. There is no offensive nor defensive approaches. We want improvement, not war. So, undress your armoured vests, and become available to listen. I adopt the binomial approach of “What to Keep”, “What to improve”. People are often expecting criticism, so they become more defensive and will not improve if you start by what’s bad. So if you start by highlighting “What to Keep” people feel valued, and with the right examples, include gradually the “What to improve” and finally applaud and congratulate for the achievement. Repeat this method, every single time you give feedback.

A common issue I see amongst leaders is the inability to receive constructive criticism. When learning new skills and taking on new leadership challenges it is important to remain humble and understand that nobody is perfect. Being open to feedback and constructive criticism will not only help you grow as a leader, but you will stand out for being part of the select few that can actually handle these situations. If you find yourself getting defensive just remember: it's ok to not know everything. The point is to grow and be better than you were yesterday.

Embrace challenge - make it very obvious you want people to tell you if they think you’re wrong. Do so publicly - and be willing to agree with the person doing it (if you do so). Leadership isn’t being seen to be right - it’s taking effective, prudent, courageous decisions based on all inputs.

Something that really impacts my success as a Leader is to truly show up as my best self and be in alignment - so that what I say and what I do align! Be authentic, don't try and be someone else or copy what others do, be your true genuine self and have the courage to be disliked. Definitely want to see and help other people show up as their best too - inspire and influence as a true Authentic Leader does.

I am a true believer that those who put their heads down (not literally) and do everything right in terms of leading well, will ultimately win. It may not be as soon as you want, but trust me, you work hard, study hard, develop your leadership skills and practice them, you will get noticed. One of the easiest ways to do stand out, however, is to ask your organization to implement a feedforward coaching system so there can be an objective measurement of leadership effort and quality within the organization.

Be unique, authentic, and open to learning from those who came before you. Be curious about what has and hasn’t worked in the past and be ready to say why YOU are the best candidate to make a change in the organization.

Develop virtue. Strive to do the morally right thing always. If you don’t, you’re not a leader. Remember, your job as leader is to bring out the greatness in others.

Standing out as a leader means many things working together to make you stand out. Firstly, ultimately its about delivering and overdelivering on your commitments. You have to keep delivering outstanding results and sometimes in very difficult environment. It means pushing the agenda, delivering significant impact on the work, on people and to the business. It also means your stakeholders can vouch for you both on what you do and how you do. It is about holding strong values. Differentiation comes when you have something others done. It could be a specific leadership style, expertise or work experiences and knowledge others lack. You have to think through what makes you different and work to deepen that

In my experience, the great way to stand out as a Coach is to spend ample time learning, teaching, and practicing the art and craft of Coaching. Like all worthwhile endeavors, Coaching is an art and skill that needs to be nurtured and perfected. That said, small daily incremental efforts to read, learn, teach, and practice go a long way. Learn from the greats: pick a world-renowned Coaching provider or certification-granting institution, and get certified. That's a great way to start. But don't stop there! Align with like-minded peers and remember to “learn from each other”, respecting each others’ point of view. Get committed to lifelong learning and practicing.