During my time as an officer in the Australian military, leadership was a central premise to how we conducted ourselves individually and operated as a team. The foundation for this leadership style was defined by the “Military’s Principles of Leadership”. I’ve always found these principles a valuable reminder, so much so that back in the day I wrote them in my field note book (see pic) to be a constant reminder.
Since my service and through my experience as CEO of the Movember Foundation my leadership style has evolved but is still grounded in many of the military’s principles. I still find it valuable to have a set of Leadership Principles to check in on, which I thought I’d share:
- Lead by example.
- Make sound and timely decisions. Always make the tough calls.
- Know your strengths, weaknesses and always seek self improvement.
- Surround yourself with excellent people, know their strengths, weaknesses, and what motivates them. Your role as a leader is to challenge, coach and inspire them.
- Create a vision that is crystal clear, a plan to get there, equip and resource your team, then empower the team to make it happen.
- Be humble. Ego is a blinding force.
- It is simply impossible to be a great leader without being a great communicator.
- Listen! Stay connected with people at every level of the organization.