How the World Outside of Work Helps You be a Better Leader

Because I came to motherhood late in life, I had nearly two decades of supervisory experience under my belt before my first kid arrived. Up to that point, I had been a frontline leader, a manager, an internal coach to executives. I led workshops on numerous leadership and managerial topics. I knew a lot about leadership.

Or so I thought.

Then I had a kid. And I realized my leadership learning had really only just started.

Our lives outside of work have so much to teach us about leadership – if only we will open our eyes, ears and hearts to the lessons. For me, parenthood has been immensely instructive. For you, it might be sports . . .or the arts . . .or volunteerism.

Whatever is happening in your world outside of work – you can use those experiences as inspiration for becoming a better leader. Want more ideas on how to do this? Check out my post for Smartblog on Leadership. It’s called, Surprising ways to become a better leader.

I’d love to hear from you: where in your life have you experienced powerful leadership lessons?

 

Image credit: By Mike’s Birds (Mother and Baby Ducks  Uploaded by Magnus Manske) [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons