8.5 Legendary Leadership Lessons Learned the Hard Way

I’ve experienced quite a few incredible leadership lessons learned throughout my 40 years of leading people. But unfortunately, many of them are lessons that seem like common sense on paper but are difficult to implement.

These leadership lessons learned throughout the years were hard-won and crystallized only after I made many mistakes.

I want to share these 8.5 quick leadership lessons with you, hoping my words will spare you some of the trial-and-error that often comes with honing your leadership style. 

1. Execution always trumps strategy. Implementing tactics quickly is still more relevant and valuable than an ornate, elaborate, delayed approach. Urgency and speed wins over perfection every time. Getting the plan 80% correct and implementing it extraordinarily well is better than waiting for a perfect plan. You can always fix the other 20% on the fly.
2. The talent of your team regulates success. The brightest, most focused, best trained, and most motivated teams create the most progress and profits. Always look for ways to enhance and upgrade the depth and talent of your organization. The leadership lessons learned by your team will have a positive impact on your company as a whole.
3. Your team is always watching. Since you are always on stage, you must be consistently at your best in words and deeds. You have an impact even when you don’t think anyone notices or cares. What you think is a random comment can have a career-changing effect on your listener. Don’t underestimate your power to influence.
4. We sometimes think it was heard and acted on just because we said something brilliant. This is rarely true. Your team will struggle to understand what you said and will interpret it through their filter system. You are only effective in communicating when they can correctly repeat your message and act on it.
5. Servant leadership is the most effective way to lead a professional team. Your main goal should be to serve your employees and customers, not vice versa. Please read this article that I wrote about servant leadership.
6. Expectations can only be met after you tell your team how to act and behave. Creating a written code of conduct or guiding document is the only effective way to help them when you aren’t available. This also frees you from having to be in attendance for all of the decisions that must be made. Leverage yourself by writing out what you expect.
7. Don’t expect what you don’t inspect. If you take the time to ask the tough questions about progress and compliance, you will get more focus and follow through. Be curious and ask lots of questions. The more you probe, the more you know if you are getting what you requested. Repetition builds muscle tone for your business.
8. One of the significant differences between good and great people is their ability to think strategically versus following a process. Influential leaders have one foot in the future and can forecast how today’s decisions will be realized on the horizon. The folks living in the now have a place, but they are not your future senior leaders.
9. Review the values important to you and your organization, and then hire and develop teammates that share those values. Of course, different types of people on your team are beneficial, but they must be aligned with your proclaimed values. When you determine those values, you choose the future of your organization.

My leadership lessons learned throughout the years did not come easy, but each one hammered me into the mentor I am today. So if you take anything away from this list, I hope it’s the knowledge that good leadership is not a destination—it’s a journey we all must walk daily. 

What do you learn from leadership experience? If you need help turning leadership advice into actual practice, sign up to receive my free blog articles or fill out my contact form for a complimentary session to discuss how to hone your leadership skills.

Coach Dave