What sets truly exceptional leaders apart from the rest? It’s not just their titles or the companies they lead but the invaluable leadership skills and lessons they’ve learned along the way.
Whether it’s their ability to build winning team cultures where employees thrive, inspire loyalty and engagement, or leave behind a legacy as a legendary leader who paved the way for others …
In this article, we’ll highlight the top leadership skills and advice from our recent Human First Leadership episodes that will help you elevate your game, whether you’re leading a small team or a global enterprise.
How To Build Long-Term Relationships in Business: The Power of Relevance and Intent With Adam Katz
In the world of business, success often hinges on the relationships you build and the value you bring to others.
For Adam Katz, Partner at New York private wealth advisory firm Corient, this has always been about more than just transactions – it’s about the intent behind every interaction.
Adam’s leadership skills are simple yet profound: focus on making meaningful introductions and connections. Stating, “All I did for years was look at my introduction activity – those are my goals.”
Instead of chasing assets and revenue, Adam’s victories were measured by the connections he facilitated, even if they didn’t result in immediate business outcomes.
For him, success was when someone would say, “Man, you introduced me to that COO, not really a great fit for me, but my other friend who started another company, he’s exactly who she’s looking for.”
This mindset led to Adam becoming known not as someone trying to sell, but as a helper – someone who created long-term value by supporting others in what mattered most to them.
Adam reflects on how this philosophy opened doors with influential people: “Suddenly, I’d have people with a hundred million dollars that everyone knows who they are – they’re calling me.
The Impact of Developing Meaningful Connections in Business
For Adam, the ultimate reward isn’t just the business that eventually comes from these relationships but the joy and fulfillment of spending his days helping others.
Sharing, “It’s not biz dev as in business development; it’s ship dev as in relationship development …
If your true, pure mind says, ‘I just want to develop relationships,’ two things happen:
- You have massively parabolic growth at some point, and
- You have way more fun.
If I can spend as close to 100 percent of my day helping people and getting amazing human feedback, what an amazing way to spend life.”
Adam’s leadership skills are a powerful reminder that in business, the relationships you build and the intent you bring to the table can create value far beyond the bottom line.
But what happens when you’re stepping into a new leadership role where trust and transparency must be established quickly? That’s where leaders like Stephanie Hess come in.
How to Transition Into a New Leadership Role With Stephanie Hess
Stepping into a new leadership role is an exciting yet daunting challenge. Stephanie Hess, Chief Communication Officer at Discord, shares her mindset during this transition, “My goal in coming is to be additive.
I’m using the human first muscle in a lot of ways for myself and giving myself grace on learning.
When you come in, and you don’t know everything because you’re not as fast as you were at the last place, that can be a breeding ground for imposter syndrome.”
To overcome these challenges, Stephanie emphasizes the importance of self-compassion and opening the lines of communication early and often.
As Stephanie puts it, “Making sure that you can build a team that works together with empathy and understanding … means that the teams are going to gel faster, the collaboration is going to be better, and ultimately, the work that you do for the company is going to have a higher impact.”
Creating a Leadership User Manual
Reflecting on her recent transition into a new role, Stephanie shares how crafting and sharing a Leadership User Manual helped her foster transparency and trust within her new team.
“One of the big things that I did before I started, and I shared it in my first week, was I created a user manual for myself,” Stephanie explains.
“This is just a simple document where you are a little bit vulnerable because you talk about the things that matter to you, the context for how you make decisions, things that earn your trust, and things that lose your trust.”
For Stephanie, the Leadership User Manual goes beyond a typical bio – it’s a personal introduction that sets the standard for transparency and openness by sharing:
- Your leadership style
- What you value
- What you do with feedback
This approach is not only an effective way to address the natural nervousness a team may experience when gaining a new leader. It also serves as a valuable practice for any leader looking to deepen their leadership skills and connection with their team.
At Mindmaven, we champion the concept of the Leadership User Manual, known to us as the How I Work document. This powerful tool accelerates a team’s understanding of your leadership style, values, decision-making styles, communication preferences, and expectations.
Whether you’re stepping into a new role or aiming to enhance your current leadership skills, creating your own How I Work document can be a game-changer for improved productivity and smoother collaboration.
But once you’ve established a connection, how do you truly unlock the potential of your team and drive them toward greatness? Dave King explains …
The Transformative Power of Great Team Leadership Skills With Dave King
What distinguishes a great leader from a mere manager? Dave King, former Chief Marketing Officer of Asana, draws a clear distinction, stating: “A manager is a position that is given to you.
A leadership role is an act; it’s an action. It’s a series of activities that you do.”
For Dave, effective leadership skills center on two core responsibilities:
- Helping the people you are leading to reach their full potential.
- Guiding your team toward a shared mission or vision.
Dave shares, “I always think, ‘How can I become the leader that I would like to have?'”
How To Build Belief in a Team
One of the most powerful aspects of Dave’s leadership skills is his “irrational belief” in his team’s potential.
He acknowledges that when working with high-performing people, it’s your responsibility to put them in a position where they can do something even more remarkable than you could do yourself.
Dave explains, “It turns out it’s not so irrational when you know that that person has it in them – they just don’t know it themselves.”
This allows you to put your team in a position where they develop, build confidence, and accomplish things they might not have thought possible.
By actively seeking opportunities and environments where people can shine, you can not only drive remarkable results but also leave a lasting legacy in the lives and careers of those you lead.
But how do you shift from individual development to creating a cohesive and thriving organizational culture? Jeff Wald’s experience in crafting culture documents provides valuable leadership skills and insights into how to embed values into the very fabric of your organization.
Why a Company Culture Document Is Key To Organizational Success With Jeff Wald
Building a strong company culture is more than just articulating values – it’s about embedding those values into the very fabric of your organization.
Serial entrepreneur Jeff Wald believes that a well-crafted culture document is the cornerstone to achieving this.
Jeff emphasizes the importance of a company culture document: “This notion of who we are, why we’re here, our mission statement, where we’re going, our North Star, and our values.”
However, he stresses that values alone are not enough. “More important than just the values: The policies and procedures that support those values.
This is how we’re gonna show up.”
In the process of launching a HR tech startup, Jeff shares, “As I’ve started this new company, the first thing I did was create a culture document – and those are living, breathing documents.
They’ve got to constantly change and evolve because as you add more people, the culture does change.”
To ensure that the culture stays aligned with the company’s goals and the evolving team, Jeff revisits the culture document every quarter, asking key questions like:
- Who are we?
- Why are we here?
- Where are we going?
- What do we stand for?
The Importance of Embedding Company Culture Through Policies
However, having a company culture document is only the first step. To truly see the benefits of a strong company culture, leaders must demonstrate their commitment to these values through actionable policies.
Jeff explains, “If you have a value, and then you don’t articulate what are the policies or behaviors that support that value, then you don’t have that value.”
For Jeff and his team, that means prioritizing professional development goals by integrating them into their KPIs or OKRs on a quarterly basis.
“It is a thou shalt,” Jeff says, underscoring the importance of aligning actions with stated values.
By continuously evolving this document and embedding its principles into daily operations, leaders can build a cohesive, transparent, and purpose-driven company that thrives in the long run.
But even with a strong culture in place, how do you ensure that your team is truly engaged and motivated to achieve their best work? Russ Laraway’s leadership skills offer a compelling answer.
How To Create Happy Employees That Drive Better Business Results With Russ Laraway
According to Russ Laraway, CEO and author of When They Win, You Win, driving better business results is about creating an environment where employees can achieve their own success.
He notes, “We spend a lot of time at work. It means a ton to us. You think about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs and how much of that is served by our jobs and our careers.”
The role of a manager, then, becomes pivotal in creating the circumstances where their team can meet these needs and achieve their goals.
Russ explains: “We’re not all there to make friends, we’re not all there to date, we’re not all there to have a good time, we’re not all there to hit the happy hours.
But there is one thing that we all have in common: We want to be successful.”
Russ’s research shows that “Manager effectiveness explains 70 percent of employee engagement. Employee engagement predicts business results.”
So, what are the behaviors that make a manager effective? Russ identifies two key responsibilities in what he calls the universal manager job description:
- Delivering aligned results.
- Enabling the success of their team members.
“If you do those two things,” Russ asserts, “you’re going to be a really successful manager.”
Why Every Successful Manager Needs To Give Praise at Work
But how do you bring these two elements – delivering aligned results and enabling success – together effectively? According to Russ, praise is one of the most powerful tools at a manager’s disposal.
“I think it’s important to get a durable, consistent set of standards,” Russ says. “What are our durable standards that we can praise for?”
He warns against two common mistakes when it comes to praise – or, as he calls it, Continue Coaching:
- Thinking praise has to be big
- Withholding praise to make it feel more meaningful later
“The worst leadership instinct that exists,” Russ says, “is, ‘I’m going to withhold it because it’ll mean more when I give it.’
Withholding praise because it’ll mean more later is a bad practice as a manager and yet one of the most common poor instincts that managers have.”
Take the Next Step and Become a Superpowered Leader
Throughout this article, we’ve covered the top leadership skills and advice from our most recent Human First Leadership episodes.
If you’re ready to truly elevate your leadership game and maximize your impact, we’d love to help you along that journey.
Drawing from over a decade of experience working with Silicon Valley’s top tech unicorns and startups, we’ve helped countless leaders increase their capacity, lead more effectively, and achieve more.
With 87+ playbooks, our individualized approach can help you free up 12+ hours every week by changing the way you work with an assistant, allowing you to focus on what truly matters.
Ready to unlock your full potential? Request a call with us today, and let’s explore how we can help you become the Superpowered leader your team and company deserve.
