Choose Your Own Adventure

Leadership is Learned, Not Just Earned

Some people believe leadership is an innate talent—you either have it, or you don’t. That’s a straight-up myth. The best leaders aren’t born knowing how to build strong teams, make tough decisions, or inspire people. They aren’t born with some keen understanding of how to hold difficult conversations, or how to effectively coach their players. At some point in their leadership journey the best leaders commit to continuous learning and seek out knowledge from those who have walked the path before them.

This means you don’t have to make every mistake yourself. The lessons are already out there—you just have to go get them. Learning to lead is the best investment you can make into your career. 

Why Bother?

1️⃣ Mistakes Are Costly – While experience is a great teacher, it’s also the slowest and most expensive way to learn. The earlier you invest in your leadership development, the fewer missteps you’ll have to recover from, and messes you will need to clean. 

2️⃣ Your Team Deserves the Best Version of You – People don’t want to follow someone who is “figuring it out” as they go. They need a leader who is committed to growth, someone who actively works to improve their skills and decision-making.

3️⃣ The Best Never Stop Learning – Even the most experienced CEOs and executives continue to invest in leadership development. Even LeBron James, Patrick Mahomes, and Christian McCaffrey seek out development- daily. You don’t ever arrive, and that is what makes the journey exciting. 

What can you do? 

📚 Read Leadership Books – The most successful leaders are lifelong readers. Books distill decades of leadership experience into a few hundred pages, giving you valuable insights without having to live through every challenge yourself. 

🎧 Listen to Leadership Podcasts – Learning doesn’t have to stop when you’re on the go. Leadership podcasts let you tap into expert advice while commuting, working out, or doing daily tasks. My daughter calls me “crazy” for doing this at the gym. She just can’t understand why I wouldn’t choose AC/DC instead. 

🎥 Watch Leadership Videos – Whether it’s TED Talks, YouTube channels, or leadership training videos, seeing and hearing great leaders in action provides both inspiration and practical takeaways. 

Where to Start?

Do NOT start where I did, arbitrarily picking up books and watching training videos every night when you get home and again on weekends. Sure, I got through a TON of content and learned a lot, but my method was not strategic nor did I manage my time well with this system. I was all over the place with my development. 

Remember Leaders Aren’t Born, they are M.A.D.E, so before jumping into the latest book recommendation from a peer, determine the best fit for your personal growth. Just like the best teachers and coaches do, you need to take inventory of your current strengths and gaps to know where to begin your development. Should you focus on your Management skills, your Awareness of yourself and of others, the Development of your team or your working Environment? What moves are you lacking that could be getting in the way of your team’s success? 

Leader’s Aren’t Born, They’re MADE is designed to help you dial in your strengths and identify areas for improvement. It starts with a self-assessment, and as long as you are relatively reflective, your score will point you to the right domain to begin your leadership development—Management, Awareness, Development, or Environment. Within each domain, there are MOVES you can isolate and learn. Use this choose-your-own-adventure book to focus on specific skills that will elevate both your leadership and effectiveness in your role. Developing others or see some of the same gaps in your team? You can pluck out a MOVE and hold your own team development session in less than 30 minutes. Go on now, give it a go!