Developing Leadership Skills

I can remember when I worked at Vidal Sassoon, I was always eager to grow as a leader. Cleaning the entire staff room with Clorox bleach after hours and doing anything and everything my manager needed so that I could learn and develop. Thinking I was ready to manage and run the company! I look back on how much I didn’t know and thought if they would just give me a position I would be able to do the job better than they were doing it!!

Now,…many years later I have learned that it's not the position that makes the leader. It's who you are becoming and living into and the influence you have around you. Cleaning the staff room was a step in the right direction, but I didn’t see it at the time that doing it consistently and then teaching others to do it would be the next step. I see it more clearly now that I have my own company for the past 20 years. My #1 lesson even to this day is to focus on who you are becoming, who you will become and who/what you set out to be.

“Position leadership is only the first level of leadership! It's a place to start, just not the place to stay for long.” ~John Maxwell

What are some ways in which you are developing your team through your leadership skills? What are the most challenging areas of leadership development courses? How did you get your past position in the leadership program?