What Is Your Leadership Statement?

What kind of leader do you want to be? What kind of leader does your business need you to be to support your desired culture?

Leadership is often discussed in broad strokes. We often hear leaders say that they want to be a good leader, but what does that really mean? What makes a great leader is different for every person, and it’s different for every business, depending on your culture and goals.

Too often, leadership happens by default when it should be intentional. When you are a business owner you are by default a "leader" but that doesn't mean you are a good leader. Intentional leadership is best achieved by having a compelling vision of how you show up to lead your company to success.

We encourage our clients and their leadership team to create leadership statements. Leadership statements are 2-3 sentences that intentionally outline the characteristics and attributes that you want to display in order to be a great leader in your business. It’s tailored to you and to your company's Culture Values Statement.

It’s a statement that can help guide you to be a better leader. It can be used to:

• Evaluate yourself on how you’re doing at leadership.
• Refocus yourself when you’re going into a tough situation such as an employee or customer issue.
• Give yourself confidence before a big meeting or moment in the business.

Just like a vision statement guides you to create the business of your dreams, a leadership statement guides you to become the leader that is needed to drive those results. It can include attributes and characteristics that you already display, but it might also include those that you know you want to improve upon.

Leadership statements can and should change over time. Your vision of yourself as a leader today will change as your leadership skills develop. We recommend all leaders have a leadership statement. Our challenge to you is to write your own leadership statement.

Take a look at your Culture Values Statement. Take time to think about what characteristics and attributes you need to be a great leader for your business. After you create a list of characteristics and attributes, put them together in 2-3 sentences. Then, try it out and read it twice a day. Does it motivate you? Does it help you show up in situations where you want to be a better leader?

Only time will tell if your statement is ready. You need to use it and to evaluate your leadership style when you use it. Know that you will make adjustments over time. The intention that you put into this will help to make you a better leader.