Leadership Kit

It's soccer season right now (and always) at our house. Our youngest son lives and breathes soccer so I've had to ramp up pretty quickly over the last few years. I have learned words like boots, pitch and kit and had to adapt my American-English interpretation of these words to the more traditional meanings related to futebol (I lived in Brasil for two years).

My son doesn't leave for practice or games without a full kit. His kit includes his boots, socks, shinguards, goalie gloves, goalie jersey, standard uniform (usually away and home versions), spray bottle, headphones, roller, water bottle and anything else that is still left in his backpack. He is very deliberate about making sure everything is included, a lesson he learned when we traveled to a game and he realized he left his boots.

His deliberate approach to his futebol kit is comparable to what any good leader should do with their personal leadership kit. Instead of deliberately creating a kit, maintaining and using it, leaders tend to go with their gut and do what they have done before. If that works out then great, but it just doesn't seem to be the best approach to leading and it certainly won't help a leader develop other leaders. Here are some lessons I have learned as I have worked on being more deliberate with my personal leadership kit.

Lesson 1 - don't overcomplicate it.

This is analogous to my son cramming every bit of gear he has into the bag every time. The more crowded the bag is, the more difficult it is to efficiently locate what is needed. Make sure your kit has the key things that you know you will need and use.

Lesson 2 - keep your kit organized.

There is power in organizing and documenting your leadership tools. Copy links to website, list which books go along with each theory or put down whatever notes make the most sense. This makes it easy to go back and look for that one piece of information you know you have that can help with a particular situation. Also, the process of documenting your kit will reinforce the key tools in it.

And don't forget to update it regularly. This isn't just about updating notes but is also about ongoing education. If you aren't constantly learning as a leader, you are going backwards. Updating your kit will help you remember what you have already learned and identify future learning opportunities.

Lesson 3 - be a deliberate leader by using your kit.

Don't assume you have internalized every piece of leadership knowledge you have gleaned over the years. You will always miss something. Regularly review your kit and identify the tools you feel will be most valuable to upcoming assignments, projects or even just for the next months day-to-day activities. Decide which tool is appropriate for a particular situation and how you want to use it. After the situation, update your kit.

Lesson 4 - share your kit with others.

One of our greatest responsibilities as a leader is to help others live up to their potential. That won't just happen by chance. Personal stories and experiences related to each tool in your kit will help others to know if the tool is right for them or how they may adapt the tool for their own style. Not everyone will have or should have the same kit, but the core components will be very similar. So share yours with those that are just getting started.

Summary

Knowing what is in your leadership kit, using it deliberately and sharing it with others can have a very powerful impact on everyone around you. I believe it is very difficult to meet your full potential unless you do so.

So what's in your kit? How will you use it in the next week? And who could you share it with?