Developing Leadership Skills

Leadership Skills Are Learned, Not Inherited

Developing leadership skills is a life-long practice. Contrary to what many believe, leadership is not based on authority or hierarchy. Leadership is based on your willingness to serve others. Leaders provide three important psychological services to a group: safety, protection, and order. People fail at leadership when they do not pay attention to or are unaware of the importance of these services.

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Developing Leadership Skills Is Not Rocket Science

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In his keynotes and workshops, Doug Noll shows your leaders how to develop their leadership skills. He breaks down leadership skills in the following way:

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• Creating and holding a safe container
• Directing attention
• Testing reality
• Managing information and framing issues
• Orchestrating conflicting perspectives
• Protecting the outliers
• Choosing the decision making process

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Developing these leadership skills requires cultivation of these personal attributes:

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• No Agenda
• No Ideology
• No Power
• High Integrity
• Strategic Thinker
• Conflict Manager
• Risk-Taker
• Data-Driven Decision-Maker

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Two of the great challenges to developing leadership skills systematically are time and money. Organizations under pressure to perform and survive do not see the investment in developing leadership skills as worthy of the time and money a true development path takes. Individuals are left to develop leadership skills on their own often ad hoc. The results are usually disappointing. Developing leadership skills successfully takes a sustained effort over many years. Just as golf or violin playing cannot be mastered in a one-off workshop or weekend retreat, neither can leadership. On the other hand, a thoughtful plan for developing leadership skills executed over time will yield tremendous benefits. It's really a matter of discipline and priority.

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Doug Noll has developed his leadership skills through his work as a peacemaker, board chair, civic leader and change agent, and start-up entrepreneur. He has seen how internal organizational conflict is almost always caused by poor leadership at the top. The days of being a "Boss" are long past, yet the archetype remains firmly fixed for those in authority. Doug advocates abandoning the old "I'm the boss" model in favor of the more nuanced principles of adaptive leadership.

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Engage Doug to inspire and motivate your developing leaders.