Test your leadership skills: explore new ways to lead

If you want to challenge your leadership skills (and any assumptions you have about your abilities), one of the best ways to stretch yourself as a leader, is outside the work environment.

This year, I coached a team of 13-year-old netballers. It proved to be a test of my leadership abilities, which caught me by surprise!

I needed to:

• Successfully communicate on different levels, so that all the girls understood what I was trying to get across.
• Keep them unified as a team.
• Stay calm.

I also had to keep my expectations realistic and accept that mistakes were par for the course at that age and level of netball.

It brought the whole concept of leadership into sharp focus and underlined how important it is to keep developing leadership skills.

By seeking out leadership opportunities outside work, different challenges present themselves – you can explore new ways to lead and get the results you’re aiming for.

You might not be game to take on a teenage netball team (and I’m not sure I’ll repeat that!), but I encourage you to cast the net wide, for ways to test and enhance your leadership skills.

See my Video for more thoughts on this.

I’m also an independent director who enjoys making a difference for organisations with a sense of social responsibility. If you have a vacancy on your Board and want a partnership with excellence, reach out to chat.