S1 Ep2: Preparing to be a leader

Leadership Learned

Whether you are about to step into your first leadership post, move into a different one, or even need to refresh your current role, the key is preparation and in this episode we will tell you why and how.
Chances are you will have achieved your position using a completely different set of skills to those required to be an effective leader. As you move into your role, you may be thinking about the things you want or should change - but the first thing you should start with is yourself.
Nigel Girling, former CEO of The National Centre for Strategic Leadership, and Dr Rona Mackenzie discuss why this is important, the real purpose of a leader, the attributes required including resilience (and what that actually means), and what you can do to first of all find out your areas of development need, and secondly how to improve them.
We also talk about the first few days of being a leader, how to get the best out of your new team, why you should listen and reflect before you take action, and knowing yourself and the shadow you cast over the organisation.
We'd love to hear your thoughts on the topics we discuss in this episode. You can find us on LinkedIn or contact us via our website.
Here are links to some of the things we talk about in the episode:
Nigel's article: "Preparing to be a leader: five things to consider "
Books we mentioned:
"The Practice of Management" by Peter Drucker
"Developing Mental Toughness" by Peter Clough, Doug Strycharczyk, John L. Perry, Doug Strycharczyk
"Humane Capital" by Vlatka Hlupic
"Leaders Eat Last" and "Start With Why" by Simon Sinek
"Rebel Ideas" by Matthew Syed