Leader? Manager? How about both.

Working with different teams and industries gives us a bird’s eye view as patterns emerge. Lately we’ve heard from leaders seeking to inspire their managers to be better leaders, and managers looking to be better leaders. It’s easy to reduce this to platitudes (“lead from the seat you’re in”) or take an either/or approach. But at the heart of it all, effective leadership can happen regardless of title, role, age, tenure, or any of the other fancy trappings we traditionally look (up) to a leader to have.

Leadership happens up, down, and across in organizations. The best leader you can be will grow from being an authentic version of yourself. Whether you’re already in a formal leadership role, looking to step into management, or anywhere in between, here are a few essential tenets:

• Be someone who makes others feel good in your presence. No one said it better than the great Maya Angelou: “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
• Make decisions for the good of the whole. The “whole” can be an organization, your department, your tiny team, or a meeting agenda. The smaller things always mirror the larger things in nature.
• Choose connection and curiosity over separation and judgment. Every time.
• Embrace responding in lieu of reacting. It can be as simple as pausing, breathing, closing your eyes for a moment or two, and then acting.
• Seek feedback for how you’re being experienced by others. This can be wonderfully surprising and informative. Start with people you respect, and receive it with an open heart.
• Be willing to admit mistakes to your teammates. Show vulnerability, ask for help when you need it.
• If everything around you is chaotic, out of order, or you’re repeatedly facing the same challenges…get curious and take a look at your inner world. Our relationship with ourself goes everywhere with us and shapes our interactions with others. What sort of thoughts are you thinking? How’s your energy? Are you someone you’d like to be around?
• Trust yourself. We often look for others to be trustworthy…start by trusting yourself and see what unfolds.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. What are leadership qualities you embody, experience in others, or aspire to?