Leadership
If you are looking to improve your leadership, I encourage you to start with this question. Look out of the eyes of the people on your team, what reasons would they want to follow you?
Below are a range of practical tools and exercises to help you become a leader that is worth following.
Get in touch if you would like to chat about developing your leadership.
Happy improving!
Why would anyone want to be led by you?
Hi there!
On this wall of the toolshed, you will find exercises and ideas to develop your leadership.
Please feel free to take whatever tools you want.
How can we improve our Leadership?
Here are ten exercises you can do to build your leadership muscles.
I do a lot of leadership work with sports captains, helping them be the best possible leader on the field, rink, pitch, or court, and consequently the language of these tools is tailored for them - for you, Captains. If you are not a sports’ captain, do not let that phase you, these drills are absolutely relevant to your leadership journey and you can apply them in whichever context you work in.
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This Leadership Action is a drill you can use to pinpoint how you want to show up and lead by example on your team.
Being a role model is about demonstrating the behaviours, attitudes, and work ethic you want to see in your team.
By leaning into this Role Model Exercise, you will be able to consistently set a positive example, inspire your teammates to follow suit, and create a culture of excellence and mutual respect.
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This Leadership Action is a simple, yet powerful exercise you can use to take your performance to the next level.
By actively asking for input from teammates, coaches, and mentors, you gain valuable perspectives that can help you refine your skills, enhance your athletic performance, and become a more effective leader.
Once you have completed the Seeking Feedback Drill, you will know who you want to get feedback from and what you want to ask them.
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This Leadership Action on giving feedback is a step-by-step exercise that enables you to help your teammates grow as players and individuals.
By providing constructive criticism and praise, you foster a culture of continuous improvement and support within your team.
By the end of the Giving Feedback Drill, you will have identified who you want to give feedback to, what feedback you want to deliver, and when you can share it.
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In this Leadership Action, you'll begin to learn how to effectively recognise and acknowledge the efforts and contributions of your teammates.
By mastering the art of recognition, you can boost morale, reinforce behaviours, and shape a positive team culture.
By the end of the Recognition Exercise, you will know who you want to recognise and have an idea of what you want to tell them.
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In this Leadership Action, you'll discover how to intentionally influence the emotions of your team.
By setting a positive emotional tone, you can enhance team morale, motivation, and cohesion. Understanding the power of emotions and how they spread within a group will help you to create a more effective team environment.
By the end of this Emotional Cascade Exercise, you will know what emotions influence you and which emotions you want to share with your team.
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In this Leadership Action, you'll learn how to consistently gauge the mood and morale of your team through active listening.
By becoming a "detective listener," you will be able to discover the health of your team - their concerns, their celebrations, their worries, their joys.
At the end of this Detective Listening Drill, you will know the first steps you need to take to help your team be at their best.
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This Leadership Action will help you develop a deeper understanding of your teammates beyond their athletic abilities.
By learning about their personal stories, motivations, interests, and ideas, you can foster a more cohesive and supportive team environment.
This Curiosity Exercise will guide you in asking the right questions, planning meaningful conversations, and building connections that enhance team performance and morale.
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In this Leadership Action, you will learn strategies to foster inclusion within your team.
Encouraging inclusion means ensuring that every team member feels valued, respected, and integrated into all team activities. This is crucial for preventing the negative impacts of favouritism and cliques, which can lead to division and conflict.
By the end of the In Group / Out Group Drill, you will know who you need to reach out to on your team to make sure everyone is included.
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In this Leadership Action, you will learn how to identify and appreciate the unique contributions each of your teammates brings to the team.
This involves recognising their individual skills, talents, and strengths beyond just athletic performance.
By the end of this Exercise on The Strengths of your Teammates, you will have made a start in knowing the strengths of your teammates so that you can collectively take your team performance to the next level.
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In this Leadership Action, you'll explore the critical balance between maintaining peak athletic performance and fulfilling your leadership responsibilities.
This balance will help you manage your energy, and maintain your mental and physical well-being, which are essential for sustained high performance and effective leadership.
By the end of the Balance Athlete and Leader Drill, you will know the minimum requirements you need to ensure you are performing at peak level.
Leadership Research
I had the privilege and joy of asking folks all around the world:
What are the best things about your leaders?
What do you appreciate and respect most about your leaders?
Dive into the five key leadership qualities that emerged from my conversational research.
If you want to be a good leader - here is what you can do.