Leadership Lessons from 'Good Leaders Learn' by Gerard Seijts

John Furlong

Be a good example, show up first, don't say bad things about other people, play fair, play by the rules, win with class, and lose with dignity.

You can choose to make the effort or not. Don't accept less than the very best.

The more human and vulnerable you are prepared to be, the more powerful and effective you become.

1. R. Narayana Murthy

Leaders understand that no task is insignificant in making a family, a community, or a corporation better.

Leaders create channels for feedback and keep them open at all points in time so that they can get much-needed feedback on where they went wrong.

Leaders must learn to be humble, to suppress their ego, and to recognize that there are people who are much smarter than themselves.

Smart leaders choose the right people based on their strengths and weaknesses, protect the respect and dignity of each individual, raise their confidence, hopes, aspirations, and enthusiasm, value their contributions, and instill a sense of meritocracy in the environment

Leaders lead by example. The leader has to accept bigger sacrifices than those he or she has asked others to accept.

It is important that all of us try and maintain a clear conscience through fairness, decency, and honesty. The most important requirement for all of us is a good night's sleep.

Elyse AlIan

Determine what you need to know and where you need to rely on your team to be the expert.

Imagination without discipline is chaos. Leadership is the marriage of strategic vision and execution.

Leaders have to focus time and attention on understanding who in the organization might be really important influencers and critical knowledge people.

Leaders learn to appreciate that there is a lot of risk that they'll never understand or know about. A key question, therefore, is whether they are flexible enough to deal with what they actually don't know.

Leaders learn very quickly, through their own experiences or somebody else’s, that “off the record” is never off the record.

Every five years or so, leaders need to step back and ask whether their skill set, competencies, character, and approach that they bring to the role is right for the organization and the environment that it is in at this point in time.

Daniel Akerson

Leaders must inspire people by their example.

Leaders need to know how to follow.

Don't accept mediocrity, it reflects badly on you.

Cassie Campbell-Pascall

Be yourself. People who struggle with leadership are often trying to be something they’re not. And others see right through them.

Being a leader sometimes involves delivering tough feedback and making hard decisions. By saying nothing, you can actually make things worse. You show you care when you communicate a tough message.

If you don't want to be criticized, then say nothing, do nothing and be nothing.

Organizations don't spend enough time having fun. The more fun you have as a group, the more you will get to know each other and trust each other, regardless of your roles and differences.

Being humble is one of the most important aspects of leadership.

You can be a quiet leader, but you still need to communicate your thoughts. If you can't communicate, your leadership will be diminished.

Don't be afraid to fail. Don't fear failure. It's a part of life and leadership and it is the only way you can really learn.

You are not going to be the perfect leader to everybody, but that doesn't mean you're not a good leader. Listen and learn. And don't try to be perfect.

Barbara Stymiest

Leaders aren't above their team members they are part of the team, and need to work along with the other members.

Leaders should encourage constructive debate at their organizations.

Leaders need to be able to communicate effectively.

There is no innate thing that is ''power," but, rather, it is your ability to make things happen.

The recipe to success is having two tablespoons of hard work and a good dose of skepticism.

Rahul Bhardwaj

The key to leadership is to know what to do with it.

We can all hear. But do we really listen?

One of the best things is to make a mistake early on, because then you learn that you can fail and that keeps you humble. You also learn to embrace that tomorrow is another day. You toughen up.

If you're not making mistakes, you're probably not pushing yourself hard enough.

If you only focus on results, that's all you ever get. If you focus on the effort, people may go far beyond the results you imagined.

Carol Stephenson

Practice is a big determinant in getting comfortable doing things that you might think are out of your comfort zone.

Leaders are being watched for what tone they set in the organization.

You have to understand other people's leadership styles and to be able to adapt to that style.

Leadership takes courage. Continue to be brave enough to lead in turbulent times, not to give up, to be persistent, and embrace the impact that you can have as a leader.

Having fun in whatever you do is essential for your success and for your wellbeing. Feel good about the opportunities you are given, the challenge you encounter, and your achievements big or small.

Michael Deane Harris

Going into the unknown is always scary. But, if you have enough confidence in yourself and in your ability to learn, then you ought not to be afraid of it.

Be comfortable in having people smarter than you work with you. You don't have to be in control all the time.

It's not good enough to be right. You have to bring the team along with you.

The higher up the ladder you are, the more likely you are to get people who don't understand what you are doing or why you are doing it.

Arkadi Kuhlmann

Practicing leadership is different than being a leader. Leaders produce results.

The first obligation of a leader the only obligation of a leader is to eliminate doubt.

Organize and you'll be more disciplined with your time.

Life is a blackboard that you cannot erase. Everything counts. There's no such thing as a time-out for a leader. There's no such thing as “it doesn't count.”

Linda Hasenfratz

You need to show that you truly care about what happens to your people.

Don’t paint people with the same brush. As you get more experience you realize people aren't all the same and they don't all respond the same way. They don’t think the same way. They don't listen the same way. They're not motivate the same way.

You need to be trustworthy for people to feel they can rely on you. Trustworthiness is rooted in how you treat people.

The sooner you learn to listen more, talk less, and get people engaged, the better your decisions tend to be and the quicker you'll be successful

Live through a crisis it will make you a better leader.

Stephen Snyder

Take control over your career and be declarative of your ambition.

Good leaders recognize they're not good at all things and that they need to get those gaps filled and be quite comfortable getting these gaps filled with very strong people.

People have issues; they have personal problems that need to be addressed if you want them to be effective. If you don't like taking care of those, then don't be a leader.

Leadership style has very little to do with success.

Hard work is 80 percent of your success and intelligence is the other 20 percent.

Bring the attitude that you have to earn your job and employees' respect every single day.

Success is always a team effort.

John Cheh

The leader should have some trepidation rather than behaving like a super-star who thinks: “I can do it all; you listen to me, follow my orders and you will do well!”

I think the common challenge for leaders is how to relate to people, understand people and then give them support and general guidance. Not instructions to do this or to do that.

Michael McCain

Individuals who aspire to lead must articulate a very clear view as to their leadership model and why it will be successful for them.

One curse of youth is that sometimes you don’t necessarily value the emotional intelligence of leadership. This dimension of leadership evolves over time.

The good leaders have an acute self-awareness around their strengths and their developmental areas, as well as understanding their perennial developmental needs.

The essence of leadership is to gain followership; to impact people in a way so they follow the leader in a willing, constructive, enthusiastic, compassionate, and collaborative way.

Intellect can be a barrier to learning. People may be overconfident in what they already know.

Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw

Leadership is about the ability to make decisions with limited and imperfect information.

Failure is temporary, giving up is permanent.

Never, ever look down upon any profession. Every profession is a worthy profession.

People must see that you are engaged as a leader. Show that you are informed about the challenges that people face.

You develop people through setting challenging goals and coaching them to reach those goals.

Michael Shindler

Treat others the way you want to be treated. Leaders need to set an example.

Fight the battles you can win.

Always learn about your boss's job, your subordinates' jobs, the job of the person sitting next to you, the job of the person across the desk from you, and so forth. It will make you a well-rounded person and you will understand where your job fits into the bigger organization.

Chaviva Ho?ek

Leaders work with others. They have respect for other people's knowledge and their ways of thinking about things.

Be true to your values. You have to be able to look into the mirror and tolerate the person that you see there.

Leaders are adaptable to cultures and situations in order to do the best possible job.

Lt.G. Russel L. Honoré, USA, Ret.

I learned that, the more senior you get, the more important it is to focus on the “what” and “why” of what you do, and set a space for your subordinates to figure out “how”

Assert and re-assert your credibility.

Collaborate with your peers and get the smartest, most experienced people to figure out the best way to improve performance.

Every decision has a clock on it. Be prepared to act.

There's no credit for trying. There's credit in mission accomplishment. Don’t bring back excuses.

Robert Bell

The role of the leader is always expanding. Leaders can’t be successful unless they drop things and let others lead.

Leaders must be transparent. They will make mistakes and they'll have to explain what they'll do to fix those mistakes.

Leaders make sure that each person on the team understands what they are trying to accomplish as a team.

Leaders must “walk the talk.” They should be visible and present on the shop floor. They make those who report to them successful.

Leaders collaborate. They look for different views to avoid groupthink.

Eileen Mercier

Take the time to learn from difficult situations and understand how not to encounter them again. Understand the importance of reputation and how it follows you throughout your career.

Try not to be afraid and let your voice to be heard.

Learn to lead by watching other people, both good and bad.

Purdy Crawford

Combining the perspectives of people from different backgrounds and with different viewpoints and expectations can be a source of advantage in the marketplace.

Leaders tend to be people of broad interests and knowledge. They maintain a broad perspective on business issues by reading widely.

Be comfortable with your decision. Think about it and then make the decision and move on.

Good leaders listen truly listen to the people around them. They see things from a multitude of perspectives.

Don't react too quickly to things that are unfolding. Take a few hours, or even a day, to think about an issue.

Charles Brindamour

Leaders must be transparent.

Leaders bring out the best in others and let them shine

Leaders see learning as a key element for moving the organization forward and making it prosperous.

Leaders must “walk the talk” - they live the values of the organization.

Amit Chakma

Leaders need to build trust by bringing things down to a human level.

Leaders need to build a network of people they can trust.

How leaders deliver their message is important.

Jody Wilson-Raybould (Puglaas)

With leadership comes the responsibility to be really conscious of what you say and do. People look up to you. They look for advice or guidance. They look for support. You have young people who want to become involved and may look to you as being a mentor or a leadership example. You have a huge responsibility. Don't say or do thoughtless things.

Learn.to take advantage of people who have skills that may be better than the skills that you have. Collaborate.

Approach every person with openness and the recognition that they have something to contribute.

Be open to being challenged.

Be who you are, no matter what circumstances you are in or who you are meeting with.

Gautam Thapar

Leadership is about how to deal with failure It's perhaps more important than learning how to deal with success.

Constantly challenge yourself, and remind yourself that you’ve not yet reached the goal. This is a challenge because as you get older, both your risk appetite and energy levels drop.

Don't be too complacent and assume that things will fall into place over time. Lead!

Umran Beba

Be open to new experiences and willing to stretch in order to develop as a leader.

Learn to trust people who have skills that you don't have and empower them to deliver on your agenda.

You must be able to put together, and lead, a diverse team. Appreciate individual differences in delivering results.

You learn lessons from each crisis.

It is important to have family and friends around you who observe you, and, if you begin to demonstrate some strange behaviors, they will call you on it. Always be open to feedback.

Antoni Cimolino

There is something very powerful about allowing people to make a contribution. People buy in and feel not only included, but a sense of responsibility. They become invested in the outcome.

Take a chance on people. Encourage young people to look for opportunities.

There are times when you've got to step into the unknown, even at personal cost. You have to take a deep breath and trust that, between the decision and the ultimate event, you will have time to think, gather a great team together, and move forward.

A leader has to see through other people's eyes and understand that others are not going to see the vision immediately.

Sukhinder Singh Cassidy

You learn to lead by taking advantage of opportunities when they are presented to you and rising to meet the challenge.

Learn when it is important to lead from behind, and when to lead from the front.

Know when to let things unfold and when to push your own specific agenda.

Learn that you can't control the whole outcome, just the effort you put in.

Manage major transitions with support. Always have someone who can comment on your decisions.

Learn how to manage your energy.

Don't let ego destroy your talent.

Stop worrying about the organizational chart, and try to add real value to the person next to you.

Everything you do as a leader is analyzed accept it.

Dennis (“Chip”) Wilson

Get out of the way and understand that it's not about you, the leader. It's a bridge to cross. It's called “giving without expectation”

Leadership involves the desire to continually get better at things. Don't get wrapped up in emotions.

Never trade short-term gain for long-term pain.

Continue to believe in what your vision is and do not let other people tell you it can't be done.

George Cope

Leadership comes with a long list of responsibilities.

You learn a lot about leadership by watching the behavior of people in leadership roles.

You must add complementary strengths to your own if you want to be successful as a leader.

The leader takes responsibility when the outcome is disappointing.

Trust is require before you can effectively delegate.

You cannot behave at less than your best even if you’re having a challenging day.

Beware of arrogance. Reflect on what it takes to be a better leader and a better person. Wisdom comes with time and experience.

The Right Honourable Paul Martin

Leaders want to get things done. They take initiative.

Ask questions, and, if you listen long enough and if you talk to enough people, the course of action that is required will eventually come to you.

Expand your comfort zone and learn to accept the emerging realities.

Leaders need to bring conviction to their role and be prepared to make difficult decisions.

Do not give up. There are few instant successes.

Leaders understand the importance of being a good storyteller.