And the road leads here

For more than three years, I’ve been penning a leadership column for Entrepreneur.com called the Leadership Factor based on my own experience running a company for a decade, and then as an executive coach. I’ve loved it. I’ve interviewed admired business leaders and authors, examined all sorts of leadership issues, and profiled stories of role models and cautionary tales. Hopefully, I’ve helped some folks along the way as well. As I make the move from columnist to a contributor, it felt like a fitting time to take the show on the road and turn it into a blog. So here we are.

In this spot I’ll be covering a variety of leadership topics from my work with executives and teams. My strong bias is that most people are already pressed for time, so it’s better to find simple actions you can commit to rather than trying to boil the ocean. I’ll try to keep that in mind as I offer any tips and tools.

Thought I’d start with my top 10 guiding philosophies of leadership so you can see where I’m coming from (and determine if you want to join the ride):

1. Communications is the heart of great leadership.
2. People follow other people, not structural titles like CEO, manager or President.
3. Openness to learning and the ability to admit weakness demonstrate confidence.
4. Trust is the gatekeeper to followership.
5. What you focus on gets stronger, whether good or bad.
6. What you declare in the world creates possibilities.
7. Your greatest strength is also your greatest weakness.
8. Things are never as good or as bad as they seem.
9. If in doubt, sleep on it.
10. Give yourself a break. The only person who thinks you can be perfect is you.

And with that, we’re off and running.