Leading People

1. Volunteer to help before you know what you are really needed for2. Show up early for a meeting and welcome everyone with a handshake as they arrive3. Facilitate a meeting for someone you work with4. Prepare for a meeting before you attend and present your thoughts on the meeting topics first.5. Highlight several strengths or skills you see another person has and tell them<6. Admit a mistake you have made7. Tell stories of times where you have learned something new from a failure8. Apologize for some wrong doing or hurt you have caused to someone9. Display or publish your own personal values to your co-workers10. Introduce yourself to anyone you don’t know in the workplace11. Start a relationship with a colleague outside of work12. Develop and use a consistent positive response to greetings like, “Hi, how are you?”13. Share with someone one of your vulnerabilities14. Always treat others respectfully15. Outline for your boss each month all your accomplishments, plans and lessons learned16. Make calls to maintain your network and to keep your contacts informed of your presence and lend an offer of help should they need it17. Be transparent and share personal stories18. Provide regular feedback to others about behaviors and actions you can see and hear19. Share your vision20. Dream big21. Define, build and maintain your reputation22. Spend more time with those performing well than those not23. Keep business performance and expectations independent of any personal relationship (business is business and personal is personal)24. Admit when you are not right25. Communicate clearly, inquire deeper and paraphrase often26. Spend time communicating with people in private27. Ask about and learn what motivates other people to help them achieve it

Leadership Skills and Development

28. Start an informal learning time at lunch with colleagues and pick various topics to cover on a regular schedule29. Send out on email your favorite learning websites30. Tell others about how you learn new skills31. Offer to help someone develop an area you are already familiar with32. Teach a skill you have learned to others33. Learn the DiSC profile (or another type of behavior/personality profile) to help describe and communicate more effectively with others34. Put at least one thing into action from every course / book you ever complete

35. Show empathy and compassion to others36. Find a mentor to focus your own development with37. Mentor someone else in an area or role you excel at38. Create/write your own training manual and share it with others39. Write down all of your goals with end dates and ensure they are measurable40. Write your desired legacy or epitaph41. Increase communication by using open ended questions42. Actively pursue and encourage continuous improvement for yourself and others43. Continue to grow and raise your expectations over time

Leadership Actions

44. Accept responsibility for your own actions and make that point known45. Smile at the first people you see each and every day46. Complete the one thing you have procrastinated the most before anything else!47. Start procrastinating things a leader doesn’t do.48. Encourage and promote change. Be a change agent.49. Add enthusiasm and passion to your presentations50. Say no to unimportant requests51. Bring up and engage in a difficult subject or conversation52. Keep your actions and decisions aligned with your values53. Read books and share them with others54. Be first to demonstrate and practice the Golden Rule55. Choose to promote someone else’s idea over your own56. Pick 3 low value things you can stop doing and stop doing them from now on57. Listen and think more than you talk58. Show appreciation and thanks to others59. Be bold in your actions60. Tackle your biggest fear by facing it to overcome it

61. Step up your business attire a notch and keep it that way62. Memorize and share your favorite leadership quotes63. Be persistent64. Do one new leadership action every day65. Maintain and uphold any professional ethics66. Practice what you preach67.Be confident in your abilities and decisions68. Strengthen your unique attributes69. Do what you say and carry through on your commitments70. Work hard and play hard, you need to show an ability to balance both71. Let go of perfectionism for yourself and others72. Be willing to take risks73. Take initiative74. Reduce and even eliminate things that are distracting75. Set time aside for planning and strategy76. Review and recap your progress and accomplishments

Servant Leadership

77. Take a day off work to go volunteer for a non-profit group78. Always give credit to those you work with or who work for you79. Admit and accept fault for what you are involved in even if its not solely yours80. Don’t judge others, offer help to promote change instead81. Be open minded for other people’s ideas and opinions82. Stay calm and control emotional outbreaks in all situations83. Sacrifice your own time or personal goal to help achieve a collective goal84. Take on a task or trade a task for one that no one else wants to do85. Contribute for free to personal and career development systems like wikis, blogs, articles, interview, speaking opportunities or other related systems86. Find your own passions and connect with others in a community sharing that passion87. Engage in a conversation with a stranger88. Do something nice for a complete stranger or homeless person89. Use the 5W questions to investigate learning and teaching90. Keep complacency at bay and drive through resistance from others91. Let go of having things done your way and accept alternative paths92. Let others share their opinions before you93. Express gratitude and appreciation for what you have94. Put love into what you do and how you do it95. Build trust by offering to trust people before expecting it to be earned96. Rely on and reveal your spiritual guidance that helps you be the leader you are97. Make decisions that build a team, not an individual98. Do the right thing even if it won’t be liked99. Give first and without any expectation100. Be humble and willing to serve others

44 Responses to “100 Ways to Be a Better Leader”

1.

Steven Aitchison Says: July 30th, 2009 at 9:36 AM

2.[1.] Hi Mike

3. this list sounds a lot of things to do to be a great leader however when you think about it, great leaders will do a lot of the above naturally. So it might not be as difficult as it looks at first glance.

4.

Barbara White Says: July 30th, 2009 at 2:29 PM

5.[2.] Excellent list I like #47 and hope that many use it a a spur for delegation

6.

tim Says: July 30th, 2009 at 2:50 PM

7.[3.] Love this list. There is always something a person can learn and do to improve one’s leadership ability. This gives the reader a great place to start. One note of caution to those who might be overwhelmed by 100 things. Choose one or two that you can act upon today. If you try to do 100 things, you’ll end up doing 0 things well.

8.

tim Says: July 30th, 2009 at 2:53 PM

9.[4.] PS….

10. Since you asked for links and lists to add to the wisdom of this post, I’ll offer my list of “103 Ways To Add Value To People.” I offer it as an ebook here –> http://studentlinc.typepad.com/studentlinc/files/addvaluetopeopleebook.pdf

11.

Mike King Says: July 30th, 2009 at 5:17 PM

12.[5.] Steve, I think that everyone has natural tendencies to lead and we are accustomed to thinking of leaders only of those who express and display the high percentage of those typical actions. So yes, you can do some of these naturally and they are ways you can be a leader when doing them. put more of them into practice, add to the list and keep doing the easy ones and you will become an even better leader, no doubt!

13.

Jonathan - Advanced Life Skills Says: July 30th, 2009 at 5:34 PM

14.[6.] Hey Mike, now that’s a list. The good news is we never run out of things to work on.

15.

Mike King Says: July 30th, 2009 at 8:26 PM

16.[7.] @Barbara, thanks for highlighting that one actually, its one of my favorite challenges to give people who want to grow their delegation skills so you are right on with identifying that.

17. @Tim, great point I should have added that. Obviously no one can do all of these things and like I said to Steve about, practicing any of these will help so pick a few or one a day or the ones you want and implement them. The other value is in actually building a list for yourself for your own area of development, which I’d love to see more people do here in response.

18. @Jonathan – it actually took a lot longer to produce than I thought it would. I got to 75 items quite easily but was quite selecting at fitting in the last 25 or so. I had a lot of items I noted that had some overlap with others so didn’t want to include them to keep the list with as many original items as possible. Thanks for the comment and for taking a look through, I hope you picked up a new idea or two from the list as well!

19.

Ben | Self Help Gold Says: July 31st, 2009 at 1:20 AM

20.[8.] That is a great list. What I particularly like about it is the theme of humility and empathy that runs through the list.

21.

Stephen - Rat Race Trap Says: July 31st, 2009 at 5:42 AM

22.[9.] Fantastic list Mike! I may be up for the challenge but I’m not sure. 100 items seems like a lot, especially after reading through your list!

23. I thought this was interesting:

24. 9. Display or publish your own personal values to your co-workers

25.

Hamid Says: July 31st, 2009 at 7:05 AM

26.[10.] Mike. This is a wonderful compilation.

27. Embedded with the top qualities of leading, a leader has to be totally humane, a down to earth person with a real open heart..

28. I can only add one thing here is about the wisdom…a leader is not a superhuman….

29. “Fear of Allah is the beginning of wisdom”

30.

Mike King Says: July 31st, 2009 at 7:38 AM

31.[11.] @Ben – thank you for the comment. Great leadership must include those elements so I’m glad to have portrayed that in my list.

32. @Stephen – Yes it was tougher than I thought to get to 100 but once you get rolling it just works. Take at look at Luciano’s original link (at top of this article) as he describes a easy method to build a list of 100. It was very helpful!

33.

BunnygotBlog Says: July 31st, 2009 at 7:52 AM

34.[12.] Hi Mike,What a fantastic list! Everyone is so important to being a successful leader.I have some to work on – this article made me aware of that.Great job.

35.

Lance Says: July 31st, 2009 at 12:11 PM

36.[13.] Hi Mike,Awesome list! I’m particularly drawn to the ‘servant leadership’ section, which is an area of real focus for me. In fact, for some time now, I’ve loosely followed an organization dedicated to this – the Greenleaf Center.

37. This is really impressive, this list of 100! I’ll bounce the idea around a bit…

38.

Mike King Says: July 31st, 2009 at 6:40 PM

39.[14.] Thanks Bunny. The list did the same for me. While realizing knowing how to do something and actually doing it very different things. I have many of those to work on, as would we all. I wouldn’t expect any to do them all but certainly gain some insight and awareness for several on the list. Thanks for your comment!

40. @Lance. Building a list of 100 is quite a task but it really makes you think, focus on knowing your stuff in that area and helps you to focus in on an area of expertise. That is what this list did for me writing it and now reading back through it as well. I will refer to it often I am sure. I know you could come up with a subject or two where you could write 100 things for! Give

it a go!!! Perhaps its a list of 100 things to that you could write 100 specific things on. Not that would be a real challenge hey?!

41.

Nathalie Lussier Says: July 31st, 2009 at 6:49 PM

42.[15.] Wow what a great list. I can only imagine how much you put into it. I really liked the “servant leadership” part as well. Unexpected, but well placed.

43.

sus|business mobile Says: August 1st, 2009 at 3:53 AM

44.[16.] All these qualities are must needed for a good leader. I will mind these steps. thanks for sharing it. Its very worthy to read this post.

45.

Dragos Roua Says: August 2nd, 2009 at 1:44 AM

46.[17.] Fantastic list

47. I’m on the challenge also, I’ll let you know when I’ll finish my post

48.

Arswino Says: August 2nd, 2009 at 11:12 AM

49.[18.] Awesome! These are very uplifting suggestions.

50. Mike, thanks for challenging me. I’m working on it soon, but I’m not sure it will be 100.

51.

Mike King Says: August 2nd, 2009 at 1:58 PM

52.[19.] @Nathalie – thanks for the specific areas you like. Servant leadership is what it is really all about if you ask me…

53. @Dragos, @Arswino – glad to hear you are both working on ideas for a list as well. I started thinking while I was working on mine that it might end up only be 50 or 60 but once you get to that point, it seems the ideas keep coming. Then once I had 95, I didn’t think I could fit

them all in so I actually deleted a few and merged a few to add my final ideas. You can definitely do it as well for your own topics of expertise and I look forward to seeing your lists!

54.

jonathanfigaro Says: August 2nd, 2009 at 7:28 PM

55.[20.] Being able to end worry and make decisions is a key foundation in leadership. Leaders tend to have positive minds and dream larger than the rest. They see things on a grander scale than the people they are leading.

56. Good post.

57.

sus|business mobile Says: August 3rd, 2009 at 4:01 AM

58.[21.] Its a awesome list. All a very much needed in a good leader. But these are hard to follow these tips in real.

59.

sus|business mobile Says: August 3rd, 2009 at 4:05 AM

60.[22.] I thinks that admit a mistake you have made and apologize for some wrong doing or hurt you have caused to someone are qualities which every man should be.

61.

ayo olaniyan Says: August 3rd, 2009 at 3:44 PM

62.[23.] hi mike,

63. this is a great list you have here 21,50,94,100 just stood out for me.I am going to have a look at the complete leadership series.have a lovely day

64.

Mike King Says: August 3rd, 2009 at 4:08 PM

65.[24.] @jonathan – thanks for your comment. That grand scale is important yes and can be done using many of these actions.

66. @sus – this list isn’t something one person could ever completely follow, but picking some items from it and practising them or improving them will help you be a better leader. many of them as your points suggest (and Jonathan earlier) can be followed to be a better person, regardless of leadership.

67. @ayo – thanks for the comment and I know you’ll love the series and I’d be happy to hear your comments as you go through it. You point out item 21 (reputation) ties in with those others as well if you do them actively. Its funny how many of the items I look through now, I say are my favorites. I guess I really favorite all of them as there are many others that didn’t make the list. These are the best 100 out of many many more possibilities. Anyway, thanks for the your thoughts. Enjoy…

68.

Evita Says: August 7th, 2009 at 1:38 PM

69.[25.] Hi Mike and wow what a list indeed!

70. This is going to make one priceless and timeless resource for people out there! Great job!

71.

Learning How to Supervise Others | Online Education & Distance Learning Says: August 8th, 2009 at 8:39 PM

72.[26.] [...] 100 Ways to Be a Better Leader (LearnThis.ca) [...]

73.

Extreme John Says: August 9th, 2009 at 7:32 PM

74.[27.] That is one powerful list of ways to be a better leader, I might have to print this out for my management staff or at least take a few of the one’s I like best.

75. Stumbled.

76.

timethief Says: August 9th, 2009 at 9:10 PM

77.[28.] Thoughts? OMG! What a huge piece of work this was and how valuable it is for us all. Thanks so much for undertaking this project and sharing with us.

78.

Mike King Says: August 9th, 2009 at 11:48 PM

79.[29.] @Evita and @timethief. Thanks so much for the words of appreciation and I’m happy to have been able to provide such a useful guide for people.

80.

used tires Says: August 15th, 2009 at 5:16 PM

81.[30.] What a great list! I don’t think I could be able to come up with anymore from this extensive list!

82. Till then,

83. Jean

84.

Blue FoX Says: August 24th, 2009 at 5:03 PM

85.[31.] Ultimate collection , very very nice work mani like ur style

86.

shibumi Says: August 30th, 2009 at 8:50 AM

87.[32.] many thanks for this helpful list.

88.

kelowna Says: September 3rd, 2009 at 4:35 PM

89.[33.] Thanks Mike! Most Leaders tend to have positive minds and dream on a bigger scale than the rest of us.

90.

Dicki Says: September 18th, 2009 at 12:38 AM

91.[34.] Stay calm in any situation!How I need these words at the moment of being.

92.

uberVU - social comments Says: March 10th, 2010 at 2:15 AM

93.[35.] Social comments and analytics for this post…

94. This post was mentioned on Twitter by Mike_King: Need to develop your leadership skills? Here are 100 Ways to be a better leader. http://bit.ly/145KDv...

95.

philippine literature Says: August 27th, 2010 at 8:19 AM

96.[36.] this is truly an amazing post!

97.

meditationguru Says: October 3rd, 2010 at 11:27 PM

98.[37.] well written post, very good!

99.

John Says: November 9th, 2010 at 5:43 PM

100.[38.] One person can be a leader, but leadership involves more than one person.

101.

ben Says: December 16th, 2010 at 8:48 PM

102.[39.] *ARISTOCRATIC CODE*1. Noblese Oblige (nobility obliged)2. Some are natural-born leaders3. the leaders should receive the greatest rewards, because they have the greatest responsibility

103.

Sam Says: January 24th, 2011 at 6:37 PM

104.[40.] Incredible list! Volunteering is a great way to find out if you even have what it takes. Stumbling this post.

105.

Humble Leadership | Learn This Says: May 24th, 2011 at 7:55 AM

106.[41.] [...] quite a number of articles about leadership (such as 100 Ways to Be a Better Leader) and a handful about humility (such as 50 Ways to Be More humble. Humility is something that [...]

107.

5 Myths of Entrepreneurs Needing Start-Up Capital | Learn This Says: June 14th, 2011 at 7:43 PM

108.[42.] [...] in your business as joint owners can be a great idea because you automatically start out with a leadership team which is dedicated, dependable, and trustworthy. And they are also personally vested in the [...]

109.

carmin Says: October 12th, 2011 at 11:46 AM

110.[43.] I love this article!

111.

Ken Schulz Says: December 11th, 2011 at 7:48 AM

112.[44.] This is a great top-100. I have found that for the most part leaders find out by accident that they are a “natural leader.” The thing that starts to separate the trained from untrained natural leader is an understanding of people; starting with themself. Once that is well understood the other skills can be learned and applied with a great deal of accuracy.

Leave a Reply

Name (required)

Mail (will not be published) (required)

Website

Notify me of followup comments via e-mail

Site Highlights

eBook Affiliate Program

Recent Articles

o Coaching in the Workplace

o Book Review: The Case For Faith

o Resources Jan 2011

o How to Be More Present

o Learning to Say No

o 10 Ways to be Performance Oriented

o 17 Ways to Be More Realistic

o Finding Happiness in Authenticity

Sponsors

Recent Comments

o used tires on Learning to Say No

o Mike King on Learning to Say No

o Mike King on How to Be More Present

o used tires on Learning to Say No

o used tires on How to Be More Present

o Mark on Being Humble: Action Steps to be More Humble

o Lisa on Being Humble: What does that mean?

Random Posts

What is Learned From Running a Blog?

Book Review: The Other 8 Hours

Book Review: The 3 BIG Questions For a Frantic Family

The Pain and Joy of Do It Yourself

The Foundation of Beliefs

50 Ways to Be More Humble and to Act Humbly

Managing Your Online Digital Portfolio

Top Commentators

used tires (7)

Acne Scars Help (7)

p90x (6)

promotional products (6)

hedging plants (5)

Leadership (5)

Evan Schulte (5)

Sourish @ Iphone 4 jailbreak (5)

About Learn This

LearnThis is authored by Mike King. Mike is a passionate learner and loves to help others learn more about self improvement, personal productivity, career, leadership and other life improvement tips.

Copyright © 2012 Mike King

Entries RSS Comments RSS