–> Watch leaders during crises.
What they say, how they behave. The effects on their teams, organizations, stakeholders, constituencies.
Government leaders, business leaders … any kind of leader and at all levels are candidates.
The pandemic, Russian invasion, and other recent crises have provided incredible opportunities to learn by watching.
Anytime you see, read, or hear something that strikes you as either good or bad leadership, make a quick note. If on a computer or device, save the item and annotate it as needed.
Periodically review your notes and pick one (or a very few) top things to work on. Observe how you do and adjust as needed.
Your observations will also help you identify your perspectives on leadership. In time, the accumulated notes and annotations will build your own leadership “book” of how you think leadership should work (and not work!).
The act of formalizing observations by making notes will also make you a better observer, which in turn is an important aspect of leadership as well.
Not convinced? Even children have used a process like this 🙂
The “Blue’s Clues” children’s TV show had a recurring theme, at least in early episodes, of Notice-Note-Noodle … children were encouraged to follow the host along in noticing clues, making notes about them, and then thinking (there was even a “thinking chair” in the show) to figure out the clues.
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