How do you become a good leader?
No one is born a good leader. You have to borrow from others.
Some favourite techniques to practise:
SHADOW! Ask if you can shadow a leader you admire for a day. Not just to listen to what they say – but also to see how they act. Then have a conversation about the situations you don’t understand. Ask how they reason.
TAKE SMALL STEPS! Borrow a small part. The dramatic pause before the punchline, the eye contact that keeps the audience engaged, the way to start a difficult conversation, the way to round off a group meeting. Try it out a couple of times. Keep what works.
STICK WITH IT! A new habit or behaviour feels strange before it becomes second nature. It’s not a sign that you’re playing a role that doesn’t suit you – it’s simply how skills are built.
The leader within you probably already exists in others. Your leadership emerges by gently borrowing the best of the best.
Thank you, Jacob Sahlqvist and your management team, for letting me spend 18 hours with you at magical island Vinga. The memory of these hours will stay with me for a long time.
The photo is unretouched: this is exactly what it looks like when you’re lying at the foot of the lighthouse and surrounded by the beams of light slowly rotating above.
