How can you develop your leadership skills without direct reports?

You don't need direct reports to develop your leadership skills. Leadership is not solely about managing people; it's about influencing, inspiring, and making a positive impact on your organization and the people you work with. Look for opportunities to have positive influence with your colleagues, and even in friendship circles. Courses, books, and mentors can also help you on your journey. Leadership is a journey and not a destination. Being a leader is sometimes how you lead yourself and not necessarily others.

Without direct reports - you're defined as an IC (Individual Contributor) in the talent management literature. So agree with seeking feedback first to your internal company stakeholders - circle of control and influence - from a capacity building / technical skills in order to reach subject matter expertise and get the recognition you deserve. And from an external/internal wider inner circle perspective in order to develop your leadership capabilities working on your mental models - vertical learning.

100% - seeking feedback will strengthen you as a leader, so get used to asking for it, develop trust to ensure that you get honest critique, and then LISTEN! Do not get defensive. But if you do want to progress your leadership skills, understand your style of learning and leadership, then seek further education. That can be self learning through reading or podcasts or done with school like the Harvard Business School.

Some ways to do it through taking initiative: Mentorship: Offer guidance to peers or colleagues, sharing your expertise and supporting their growth. Cross-functional collaboration: Initiate projects that require teamwork across departments, showcasing your ability to lead without authority. Volunteer for leadership roles: Take charge in committees, clubs, or community organizations to gain hands-on experience in leading initiatives. Lead by example: Demonstrate integrity, accountability, and a strong work ethic to inspire others around you. Seek feedback and learn: Actively request input on your leadership style and skills, and utilize it to improve continuously.

Successful leaders prioritize shared team values, aligning organizational change with these foundational principles, and inspiring teams toward collective effectiveness. Diverse teams, nurtured by leaders who emphasize strengths rather than weaknesses, outperform homogeneous ones, showcasing the significance of cultivating unique capabilities. Being an exceptional leader means finding ways to align actions with the organization's mission, fostering internal cohesion, and attracting stakeholders who share similar values. Invest in emotional intelligence development for yourself, as this surpasses technical skills in higher leadership roles.

Aprender de los demás se relaciona con la mentalidad del aprendiz continuo. Esta era de cambios exponenciales requiere lideres con: -Predisposición a la experimentación, -Capacidad de corrección rápida frente al error -empatía y agudeza para observar y resolver los enigmas nuevos. -Flexibilidad para lidiar con lo emergente -Capacidad de desaprender -Escucha activa -Consideración del otro como aporte -Validación y empatía Aprendemos de los otros a quienes buscamos como Mentores, Consultores, Maestros. También de aquellos con los que nos encontramos, que pueden traer perspectivas frescas, preguntas desafiantes, experiencias distintas, pensamientos disruptivos. Los demás nos acercan su diversidad y sus invitaciones a colaborar.

Leading a project is not just about expertise related project management activities. It is an ideal setting to build critical leadership skills like setting a vision, communicating the vision, building support for the project's resources and outcomes, and creating a joint commitment to action. When you take a step back, to observe your accomplishments, those people engagement and communication skills will be useful in every setting and role you pursue in the future.

A key skill that is fostered when leading projects is creating alignment. Learning how to get people to buy in, overcome any objections, make decisions, and act according to a timeline is invaluable experience.

Bottom line is you never stop learning! Even with 4 Degrees I continue to attend conferences, go to events and undertake more formal training. It just doesn’t end - the world changes too fast and who wants to be left behind?

If your company won’t invest in you, don’t let that stop you! Pay for the development yourself. Set aside a small budget each year for certification or continuing education credits or training - you name it!

Exercise your leadership to show that you Know Your Stuff! Become the "go-to" person for your skill, knowledge, and expertise (KSE). Share your KSEs with your colleagues and leaders who may not be well versed or responsible for such. Doing so establishes credibility and creates connection for other to realize that you are a knowledgeable leader because you KNOW YOUR STUFF!

You don’t need direct reports to be a leader. You need direct reports to be in a position of authority, or higher up a company hierarchy, but as Simon Sinek and others say, leadership is a choice. It’s a choice to look after the person to the right of you and the person to the left of you. A very effective way to hone your leadership skills without direct reports is to make that choice. Find out what you can do for the people around you. Find out how you can help, how they can benefit from your experience and expertise and how you can benefit from theirs. Ask if they would be open to a peer coaching relationship. Ask if you can give them some feedback, and be open to receiving it. We need to stop equating leadership to position.

Volunteering in your community is a great way to practice and grow leadership skills. And, you can combine your passions outside of work with your leadership development focus.

We usually think that leadership always comes from the top down. Also is not widely accepted to exercise leadership upwards, that is, with our superiors within the organizational structure; and that sense of leadership is what requires the greatest effort, emotional intelligence and political acuity. Let's remove the mental barriers and those fears and open the dialogue and our leadership towards our leaders too. The person at the top of the organizational structure does not necessarily or necessarily know everything.

Many organizations today are quite flat, with fewer levels of management and bureaucracy. This may limit the number of true leadership positions, but not the opportunity to practice leadership attributes. Each employee can lead by taking increased responsibility in their role, speaking up in team settings, and providing support and filling in for bosses when the opportunity arises. Having done all of this, being assigned to mentor and lead others will be just the next step in the evolution.