The H's of Leadership

Helping Hand-waiting to assist when needed, jumps in
Host-takes care of customers and team members as invited guests
Hear- not only listens but digests the words, feelings, visual cues
Heart-uses it in all decisions
Happy-joyful person, positively focused
Hours-puts them in
Habit-leadership skills built over time
Humor-has a sense of humor, has fun
Honest-integrity is key
Hard-works hard, plays hard
Head-has it screwed on straight
Healthy-keeps self fit, mentally, physically and emotionally
Hero-can be one, but recognizes them amongst the team first
Honor-has a sense of commitment to others and himself
Human-understands humanity, including mistakes, foibles and misses
Humble-not full of themselves

The G's of Leadership

Goals-written, measured and tracked,for themselves, for the business and insists on them for the team Good-is just a good person
Growth-wants it, looks for it, for themselves, for the business and for others
Grace-has style and and meets every challenge with calm, diplomacy and sensitivity
Gives- time, energy, thoughts, care, love
Gamble-willing to take a risk
Generous-prepared to give
Go-moves forward
Great-wants the organization to be great, wants that for every stakeholder
Guts, gutsy-takes chances, works with instinct

The F's of Leadership

Fair -not necessarily equal, but looking to create balance

Fundamental-gets what the business is about
Fun -plays, enjoys life, likes humour, gets a joke, laughs and smiles
Forgiving-realizes humanity, moves on Foster-develops an engaging environment that promotes growth
Focused - eyes, mind, heart trained in a specific direction
Feedback-gives and takes, as well as implements constructive information
Faith-has it, shares it, develops it, in themselves and others
Fire-works with passion, propels them forward
Forward-looking - keeps eye ahead and seeks out opportunities

The E's of Leadership

Energetic-almost to the point of overwhelm, and can channel it to direct focus and attention to the right things
Empathetic-listens to and relates to the experiences of others
Enthusiastic-shows positive reactions and eneryg towards ideas, commitments, accomplishments and plans
Eager-wants to get moving
Eyes-listens with them as well as sees...a lot
Earth-connected, a center point
Ethics-has them, lives an ethical life
Effort-gives to the max
Edge-likes to walk a fine line sometimes, on the edge, also can. Be edgy in ideas, thinking, trying new things
Effective-gets things done
Encouragement-always has a word of support ready, can see when it is needed
Engaged-locked in, a vested interest, present
Enjoyment-gets joy out of all aspects of life
Enterprising-tries new things, looks for the out of the ordinary
Equality-treats people equally
Evaluates-people, projects, talent, teams and then makes decisions on how to best utilize what or who has been evaluated
Experience-has it, shows it, always looking for more

The D's of Leadership

Distinctive-known for something
Determined-works to get to the best result possible
Decisive- makes decisions
Daring-takes a leap, a risk, a gamble...simply tries
Do - action
Drive-push, passion, forward momentum
Daily-at it every day, without changing who they are
Dedicated-ditto above + emotional attachment
Definite-makes solid decisions without wavering
Delegate-knows how to get things done well through others, and others willingly participate because they realize it is in their best interest
Deliberate-action and thoughts on purpose
Dignity-has it, treats others with it, always
Demonstrates-walks the talk
Dependable- reliable
Desire-wants to, passionately
Detail-knows the answers are in the small things...searches through and understands minute information
Develop- builds people, business, relationships
Different -not the same as the rest
Diligent- works hard
Direct - does not beat around the bush

The C's of Leadership

Constant - applies a particular amount of energy to everything
Consistent- the same, always
Character- what they are made of, their values
Competitive- with themselves , with others, in the business, with the team
Compassionate-cares for others
Care, including careful- thinks with the heart, thinks things through
Challenge-takes on, gives, meets, exceeds
Contemplative- thinks things through
Coach-guides others to find the best within themselves
Calm-still, thinking, contemplative
Capable -able, ready to go
Celebrate-looks for ways to show gratitude, underscore successes, be together
Charity- works for others who need them
Change-an agent, ready to switch, move, try new things
Committed-wants the organization and the team to succeed
Connected-linked to others, to the business
Credibility-acts with integrity, upholds reputation
Create- artistically works with others
Cultivate- builds, grows, harvests
Culture-values that keep the keel even on the water, basis for decisions
Caped crusader - sometimes they are just a superhero!

The B's of Leadership

Brave - courageous, takes risks
Bold-tries new things, gets change rolling
Boost-uplifts everyone, everything....never tears down
Be-is present
Business- the reason why
Believe - has a focused heart
Balance - has a time focus that provides for family, community, work and life
Bet- takes chances, measured ones
Blueprint - has a plan, makes a plan, likes to plan, for self, business, development, time
Brilliant-has a inner light that shines brightly outward
Bring- takes their A game everywhere - bring it!

The A's of Leadership

The A's of Leadership

Assertive: wants to get it, supports the entire effort, and future involvement of the team

Assertive vs. Aggressive : what results meets the needs of the business, not my needs first

Action oriented: finding opportunity for actions that move the organization towards it's goals

Asks: questions to determine needs, set others up for success

Able: committed to execution

Answer: has one or finds one, not an expert in everything, but has good resources

Adventure: ready to try new things, relishes the journey

Accept: limitations as well as resolutions and moves forward, people as they are and works with the team to develop their talents and abilities; also accepts responsibility for their role

Agile: ready to change quickly, ready to learn and flex, adapts to change

The Alphabet of Leadership

Over the next few weeks, we will discover the words that talk about leadership, qualities of a leader, actions of a leader and even a few 'leaders do not'.  If I miss any along the way, please feel free to add.

Getting Change In Motion

Easy Steps....

The change has 'come down' from command central. Your job is the make sure it gets implemented. What do you do ?

1..start the conversation with your group

2..explain the change or new process...you need to get buy in

3..get the group working in the new way.  You will need to encourage, follow up, answer questions and most importantly, work in the new way.  You need to model the change, be the example everyday so that your team will see how important the change is to you, their leader.

4...ask questions of the team to find out how it's going? What are the obstacles? How can you remove them?

5..provide the feedback to others. This will help your team be heard as well as provide new insights for the change-developers...possibly helping others eliminate obstacles along the way to implementing the same change.

6..celebrate successes. Build milestones into the change process so that the team can see progress along the way.

7..move on to the next one!

Create Opportunities

How do you get others involved? Create opportunity. Opportunity for engagement will drive the success of your business, build for the future, develop a succession plan, instill confidence and you will have fun! Imagine fun at work!


When problem-solving or making decisions, including others is a way to expose up-and-comers to situations that could help them grow. The ability to understand the alternatives and options at hand when making decisions that affect the business can help the budding leader to relate situations and consequences at the same time.

Brainstorming with your group is another way to create an opportunity for team members to learn about each other, form new connections and build more solid relationships. Watching how the group interacts is an opportunity for you, as the leader to observe behaviour - who is participating or not, taking over or letting things slide by, who is engaged or not, who is the nay-sayer or advocate for solutions.

As an observer you can also determine if the brainstorming is active or passive. Active brainstorming is when the entire group or majority is participating, ideas are flowing, you are observing innovation in action, ideas are built upon rather than dismissed. Passive brainstorming takes place when there are few engaged participants in a larger group and they are carrying the direction of the session by looking for agreement rather than new ideas or challenges.

After brainstorming there is usually a plan to develop and carry out. Brainstorming is used to solve problems, start new projects. Asking group members or team members to develop the plan they would like to implement becomes an opportunity for growth and empowerment. It will be easier to get buy in if the plan comes from colleagues as opposed to from the top down. Implementation and roll out will take place as the newly empowered leaders will follow up to ensure execution is up to or exceeding company expectations.

Will you gain opportunities by giving them to others? Absolutely. You will be seen as the people developer, the opportunity creator. You will develop your own assessment skills to ensure that you are creating the right opportunities for the right people.

Creating opportunities comes with a certain level of responsibility. You need to ensure that you are matching the opportunity to the correct individual. Helping them understand that the opportunity is now in their hands and the outcome is their own. Following up to ensure that they have exhausted the gift to it's fullest potential.