We manage processes, numbers, and resources, but people are meant to be led. Great leaders recognize our humanity, our free will, our uniqueness, and the true form of leading is accomplished through influence.

Self-awareness is the product of intentional self-examination. Sometimes we are surrounded by such noise that it takes an intentional appointment to make room for the stillness needed for contemplation and getting in touch with ourselves. This understanding of our own emotional states, moods, and motivations in turn allows us to better empathize with others, which is a critical leadership quality.

Gallup research has found that 67% of employees whose managers communicated their strengths were fully engaged in their work, while only 31% of employees whose managers only communicated their weaknesses were engaged in their work. As leaders we frequently spend untold hours procuring trainings and seminars to improve metrics, but as the German poet and critic Johann Wolfgang von Goethe once said, “Instruction does much, but encouragement everything."

“Training is about behavior change. People are doing something one way, and we want them to do it another way. Alternatively, they don’t know how to do something at all, and we need them to do it well. But changing behavior is more than just informing people of the right way to do something and hoping for the best. We have to understand the environment in which the behavior occurs.”