When you’re preparing to enter a new role as a leader, it’s important to pause and

think about what is most important to you.

One tool to help you clarify your thinking is to develop a leadership philosophy
that
captures and communicates your ideas of what leadership means for you.
It is a good tool for both you and the people you are leading.
It’s a good tool for you because it causes you to reflect upon what leadership
means
to you and how you see yourself as a leader.
It can also help you create a memorable list of the things you consider most
important.
It’s a good tool for others, because it summarizes your key thoughts and ideas on
how you plan to lead.
In that way, it serves to orient people in your organization as to how you may be
prioritizing
or deciding in different situations.
It can even be considered an ‘informal contract’ as to how you plan to show up as
the leader.
As an ‘on the record’ account of yourself, it can serve as a good discussion tool
with
people in your new organization.
If your organization is a large one, some people may read your philosophy before
they
even get to meet you in person, so it can be a way to introduce yourself to others.
Of course, your leadership philosophy is truly personal and has to be both genuine
and well-considered.
In order to be both sustainable and understandable, it needs to truly reflect who
you are, what
is important to you, and what you want to communicate.
When creating a leadership philosophy, think about key elements you want to
include.
There are many different styles of leadership philosophies and it’s important that
yours
reflects your own personality.
You may want to include a short paragraph about what leadership means to you or how
you see your role in the organization.
You may want to describe how you want to treat others and how you expect to be
treated.
Some people use their leadership philosophy to highlight some of the most important
lessons
they’ve learned in dealing with people.
Others are more practical and describe the best ways they understand information
such
as in document or chart formats.
You might want to let people know what goals and aspirations you have as a leader
and what
part they play in those aspirations.
However you decide to build your philosophy, you should make it simple and focused.
To be understood and remembered it needs to be easily communicated.
One page should be sufficient to explain your ideas.
If it’s it more than two pages, no one will read it.
And remember, this is a tool for both you and the people in your organization, so
keep
both parties in mind as you create it.
As leadership philosophies can be tricky to create the first time around, we’re
giving
you an opportunity to give it a try before you implement one in your organization.
I’ve also included my own leadership philosophy that I created for one of my
previous leadership
roles.
This was a command position in the US Army at the end of a career of more than
twenty
years.
As I prepared for assuming command, I took some time to reflect upon what I valued
most
in my experiences over my career.
I reflected upon the types of leaders and organizations I enjoyed working with, as
well
as the work environments I felt were most productive and rewarding for me.
I also considered the specific role I was assuming and its associated duties and
responsibilities.
I knew that by Army regulation, the command would only last for two years, so the
job
wasn’t about me, it was about the organization.
When I considered what was most important for the organization, I decided that the
people
needed to be my primary focus in order to sustain the organization beyond my time
there.
I thought hard about what that meant for all of our time and resources, and how I
might
best communicate my thinking to the members of my unit, as well as external
stakeholders.
I wanted to produce a simple document that clearly communicated my thinking but
also
captured enough detail that people could refer to it in their day to day activities
to hopefully help them do their jobs.