BEST PRACTICES

AND LESSONS
LEARNED
PROF: PCOL CHARLIE A ACOSTA (RET.)
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• Starting a career in a leadership position can be intimidating and even

overwhelming at times. As with any other position, some trial and error
needs to happen before you find your groove. When you’re in leadership,
though, your trials and errors are often on display and can have more of
an impact on others.
7 LEADERSHIP LESSON
LEARNED
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• 1. Everyone can help you learn something.

It goes without saying that everyone has their own style of leadership, their own
personal brand. Observing how others handle themselves – peers, management,
and other external leaders – is a great way to learn.  Whether you agree with how a
situation is handled or not, the experience can teach you how to approach a similar
issue in the future. Leadership is a constant assessment and reevaluation, so the
more you can learn from the experiences of others – good or bad– the better off
you’ll be when you’re positioned to make the decisions.
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• 2. Managers and leaders are different.

Many times a really good manager can knock your socks off with their
results, but they might not be a leader. The difference comes down to being
comfortable with assessing and taking risks coupled with the ability to
ignite action in others. In a crisis or at any time of need, a leader doesn’t
hesitate at all – in fact, crises are where leaders often emerge. But
remember, whether you are a leader or a manager, these are both essential
and complementary skill sets.
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• 3. Leadership is hard.
A good leader can push through fear, assess risk and take action
when action is required. At times, the tough decisions leaders
make are the ones that others cannot make.  Leadership is hard
and you are going to make decisions that other people can’t.
Understand your values and prioritize them.
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• 4. Self-awareness is essential.
Everyone needs a balanced and honest view of their strengths and
weaknesses. Self-awareness grants a person the ability to interact
with others frankly and confidently. In order to build a successful
team to lead, leaders must be so aware of their weaknesses that
they can hire against them. Know where you soar and where you
need more help.
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• 5. Get feedback from your network.

The value of networking. An outside perspective can bring fresh
insight when you need to workshop a new idea or you enter new
territory. Furthermore, getting a broad-based perspective. It’s not
always the “whos-who” that can give you the greatest insight, so
reach out to a variety of demographics to get a more holistic view.
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• 6. Communicate.
Tread too lightly and your message will be too bland. Use too much heat and
people won’t be able to digest. You need to speak clearly enough to get your
point across as well as a balanced delivery of firm and delicate messaging.
Leaders need strong, clear messaging to get the results they want. If you aren’t
seeing the results, stop talking and find a new approach. Learn the needs and
motivations of your key stakeholders.  Determine how to better position your
message to reach the desired actions and results.
 LEADERSHIP LESSON LEARNED

• 7. Be present.
Bring vision and strategy to the here and now. A leader needs to be able to communicate
with frontline staff without de-positioning management, but you also need to be able to
connect. It’s important to engage with all levels because there will be a different
perspective from each operational group and level. Business is becoming more moment-
to-moment than ever before. It’s more difficult to execute on long-term planning because
we need constant re-evaluation to be relevant with the times. Leaders need to be
present, listening and open to learning from everyone around them.
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES MAKE A BIG DIFFERENCE

• When defining what makes a good leader, one has to look not
only at good leadership qualities, but also at leadership practices.
The best leaders know how to get the most out of their teams, and
are confident enough to employ the methods necessary.
12 GOOD LEADERSHIP
PRACTICES
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 1. Mentor relationships
While a good organization culture includes room for employees to grow, good leaders
will go above and beyond to provide training, support, and opportunities for their workers
who show strong potential. Adapting your leadership style to best accommodate your
best coworkers is an excellent example of a good leadership practice. Especially in
today’s time, when many coworker are struggling with the adaption to remote work, being
a consistently strong and clear mentor and support system for coworkers is essential.
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 2. Promote relationships – not just competitiveness

While having some friendly competition among coworkers is not a bad
thing, it certainly shouldn’t be the only measurement leaders look at when
reviewing subordinates. A good leadership practice is one that fosters and
encourages a good working relationship between coworkers. A good
connection among team members will help with team-building, and will
increase productivity over all. 
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 3. Encourage co workers to advance

A good leader is happy for their subordinates when they advance
enough to take on new challenges and a new job. While high
turnover of talent on any leader’s team is generally not something a
leader strives for, succession of individuals and the betterment of the
organization talent pool is regarded as a success. 
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 4. Take chances on people (within reason)

A good leadership practice is to not stay bound within certain limitations.
When hiring, for example, a good leader should have the ability to see
beyond just education on a resume. Potential coworkers who have proven
themselves capable of accomplishing difficult tasks in other areas could
prove to be positive additions to the team.
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 5. Always be on the lookout for new talent

Just because you don’t need to fill a position at the moment, doesn’t mean you should stop
looking for new talent. Networking with prospective new coworkers is a great leadership
practice, as it’s prudent to always have a backup plan. Meeting new people, knowing their
strengths, and gauging their potential interest level in working for you one day will be very
useful information to have when you are next looking to fill a position. 
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 6. Make your goals public

Any great leader who truly wants to succeed should have a series of clearly articulated
goals that are viewed as priority. A critical leadership practice is to make the goals known
amongst your entire team; share and establish clarity of direction as to how each direct
report can support in the execution of these goals. When coworkers are aware of your
goals as a leader, it allows them to reference it whenever they’re making decisions that
will affect the organization long-term, and also to understand what they’re working for,
and why. 
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 7. Give real-time feedback
While annual reviews – and more frequent ones – are important, it
can also be very beneficial to give feedback in the moment. If
something positive is accomplished, praise in the moment will elicit
a desire to continue doing well.
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 8. Compliment sandwich
This is a leadership practice that most people have heard of, and for good reason – it
remains a very effective way of evaluating an employee’s performance. Essentially,
it is a practice where the leader compliments or praises the subordinates for
something they’ve done well. That is followed by a critique – something they didn’t
do as well, or could work on more – and then another complimentary statement. The
idea behind this is that it is easier to accept criticism if it is bookended by praise. 
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 9. Reviews based on the organization’s values

It’s easy to review employees based purely on metrics, but they don’t
always tell the full story. A good leadership practice is to consider the
organization’s core values when evaluating how an employee has been
performing. Often it is said that ‘It’s not just what you do but how you
behave along the way’ that makes one truly successful. 
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 10. One-on-ones
One-on-ones are important for a variety of situations, including, coaching, feedback, and
even just chatting to see how an subordinates is getting on. They allow you, as a leader,
to form a deeper bond with each of your workers. One-on-one conversations can yield
insight that may be missed in a group setting. It also provides opportunity for
subordinates to express concerns they may have that they wouldn’t want to bring up in a
public setting. 
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 11. Short, regular meetings to discuss issues

Some problems that spring up need to be solved quicker than others, and can’t wait for a
yearly, quarterly review or even the weekly scheduled one-on-one. It’s a good leadership
practice to set aside some time every day specifically dedicated to going over any issues
that are affecting the organization. Virtual meetings are one of the most widely used tools
today, and for good reason. Take advantage of the benefits of the popular technology
platforms and schedule regular, weekly virtual meetings with your team to maintain
morale and encourage progress.
 GOOD LEADERSHIP PRACTICES

• 12. Trust your team to do the work

The best leadership practice a good leader can have is to trust their team to do the
work they give them. Leaders should be able to effectively delegate the
necessary tasks to the right subordinates. Trust is something that needs to be built
over a period of time, and will be based on an subordinates ability to do the work
they’re given, the responsibility they take on, the relationships they form with
their team, and more. 
THE END