There is no magic formula to becoming a great leader. Many leaders I’ve seen have learned the right things to do because of the wrong things they’ve done in the past. Myself included.
In this excellent TED Talk by Roselinde Torres, What it takes to be a Great Leader she identifies that “Leadership in the 21st century is defined and evidenced by 3 questions”:
1. Where are you looking to anticipate the next change to your business model or your life?
2. What is the diversity measure of your personal and professional stakeholder network?
“This is about your capacity to develop relationships with people that are very different than you.”
3. Are you courageous enough to abandon a practice that has made you successful in the past?
I personally think the third question is the most important and difficult for me as I learn to think more broadly than just the best practices of the last project. Or the last twenty. So I have to identify which practice should be abandoned for increased success.
What about you? Which of those 3 questions is most difficult to answer?