Your personal leadership philosophy is your own Leader’s Compass

The introduction to the book The Leader’s Compass says

It is a rare organization that does not have some sort of mission statement, organizational philosophy or values proposition to guide members and focus their work. Most leaders recognize that developing these clearly articulated statements is time well spent; they help keep the organization on track and pointed toward clear goals. A written leadership philosophy . . . achieves the same thing on a personal level; it lets people know what you expect, what you value, how you’ll act, and how you’ll measure performance.

Benefits of writing a personal leadership philosophy

  • You will get help thinking, in a systematic way, about some “big picture” choices all leaders should address: what do you believe about leadership? How do you want your team members to behave toward each other? Toward their work? How will you act?
  • When you share your personal leadership philosophy, people won’t have to wonder and waste energy guessing what you want.
  • Just introducing the topic of leadership can lead to a healthier organization, because you’re giving people permission to ask questions, to ask for help and clarification.
  • People will hold you accountable, and when you act and lead just as you promised, people will learn to trust you.

The Leader’s Compass is a fictional story about a young leader who is thrust into a new position without any training for his new responsibilities. During the course of the story, he creates a personal leadership philosophy. Readers can follow the steps along with the main character.

If you’d like to get a head start, here’s how to begin. (This will be more fruitful if you go through the exercise with a group; you can learn from one another.)

  1. Write a definition of leadership. Compare your definitions with others’ and use their ideas to make your definition better. Be clear; be concise.
  2. On a separate piece of paper, create two columns. Label one “best” and one “worst.” Think about the best and worst leaders you’ve encountered—include your life outside of work—and write down the actions those people took that landed them in one column or the other. Share with the group; borrow freely from other people to make your list better. The important thing is that you create a picture in your mind of what makes a good leader (and conversely, what makes a bad leader.)
  3. Now imagine someone who works with or for you sitting in a room somewhere thinking about you as a leader. Pick three “best” actions that you would most like to be known for, then write a simple definition of each of those three actions. For instance, if you have “Listens” as one of the actions in your best column, you might define it as, “Willing to listen to and consider other peoples’ ideas; doesn’t multi-task (answer email, phone, check the time) while listening.”
  4. Read a few examples of leadership philosophies to see the various approaches people use. Feel free to adapt anything you like to your own use.
  5. Using everything you’ve written as well as the great ideas you got from your colleagues, create a bullet point outline with at least three entries under each of these headings.
    1. Here’s what I believe about leadership
    2. Here’s what I expect from you
    3. Here’s what you can expect from me
    4. Here are my hot buttons
  6. Set is aside for a few days then revise it.
    1. Move from a bullet point outline to sentences.
    2. Keep your audience in mind—make sure they’ll understand it.
    3. Use your own voice. Hint: read it aloud, if it doesn’t sound like something you’d say in conversation, lighten up.
  7. After a few rounds of revisions, share it with someone who knows you well and will give you honest feedback. Hint: if everyone knows I’m a habitual liar, I’ll just look stupid if I write about integrity in my philosophy. My reader should tell me that.
  8. Once you feel you’re about 80% finished, share it with your team and colleagues. Face to face conversations are best. Don’t be surprised if people don’t know how to react.
  9. Live up to your end of the bargain, and hold people accountable for their own actions.