What kind of leader are you becoming?

This month in my Launchpad programme, we’ve been digging into leadership, but not the corporate, hierarchical kind most people think of.

We’ve been talking about:

• Leaders we actually admire (and those we don’t)

• Informal leadership and taking initiative without a title

• What it means to lead yourself as much as others

• And how being yourself and adapting to others can co-exist in a leadership role

Some people rise to power through dominance or ego, but they’re not necessarily the ones we’d choose to follow. So how do we become the kind of leaders people want to follow? How do we do it without becoming someone we’re not?

This has been on my mind outside of work, too. I spent a day in London this week with a wonderful friend  who is a wildly talented musician and producer. She works with a deep sense of creative agency and self-leadership. Watching her in her studio reminded me that leadership doesn’t have to look like suits and long hours and polished LinkedIn posts.

Sometimes it’s quiet. Sometimes it’s messy. Sometimes it looks like creating space for others. Or creating something new from scratch. But whatever form it takes, it has to come from you, not from who you think you should be.

So I wanted to ask:

1. What kind of leader are you?
2. What kind of leader would you like to become?
3. What would change if you let go of the stereotypes?

I’m in the midst of planning a one-day event in Oxfordshire on 2nd December for those who want to explore what leadership could look like beyond the traditional stereotypes.

If that sounds like something you’d love to be part of, you can join the waitlist and be the first to know when bookings open.

And if you'd rather reply with a list of the leaders you don't want to become, that would make for fascinating reading too!