Leadership is never an easy task but, what truly separates a leader from a follower? What are the keys to good leadership? Hear about all this and more from this episode’s guest Wendy Ryan as we discuss the topic ‘Learn Lead Lift: Think, Act and Inspire Your Way to Greatness.’ 
Here are three reasons why you should listen to the full episode: 

Unlock the keys to great Leadership 
Discover how Mindset, Skillset, and Behavior distinguish the type of leader you are.  
Learn how to change or affect change as a leader

Episode Highlights
Are leaders born or made?  

Wendy shared that leaders are not necessarily born or made. 
Wendy explains that what we do with the raw material life gives us determines if we become great leaders or not. 
Wendy explains that one of the main characteristics of a leader is intentionality about their actions. Intentional leaders are not only concerned with themselves but with the members of their team and its overall mission. 
Wendy reminds us that leadership does not have a specific look and despite humans creating staples of what we believe a good leader looks like or traits they should possess, we can find good leadership in environments such as our homes. 

Aspire to Inspire

Wendy explains that life is our greatest teacher and that the experiences we have in life are the things that shape us and allow us to acquire the right tools needed for effective leadership. 
People become intimidated when it comes to being an inspiratory leader. However, it is not always about fitting the usual extroverted model that makes someone an impactful leader, things that contribute to being an inspirational leader include, but are not limited to the way you show interest in your team and the way you interact with and value people on a personal level.

The Right Mindset of Leadership 

Wendy highlights that it is vital for people to realize that we don’t all start at the same place in the race of life but, no matter where we start from, we all start with something. One of the most important things we can leverage in life is our mindset. 
Our mindsets affect or determine your course of action in life. Wendy gives us a list of different mindsets and how each affects us as leaders. 

Growth Mindset – A way of thinking that knows or always tries to learn and improve. 
Grit Mindset – Recognizes that failure doesn’t always mean to give up but rather to revisit, readjust and try again because success isn’t always the first thing we experience. 
Identity Mindset/Identity matters – Wendy highlights how important it is to recognize that everybody is different and each person’s experience is shaped by their identity. Leaders need to tap into empathy and acknowledge the differences each person experiences. 

 
How do we change 

Wendy believes that significant steps to changing or being better leaders include; 

Changing your mindset – Understanding how people think and learning how to think about our reasoning ability enables us to learn more skills as we grow. 
Examining your Skillset – After understanding one’s mindset, you need to figure out the skill sets required to make you a better leader. These include emotional intelligence and systems that help you to plan for contingencies.
Behaviour – Changing one’s mindset and working on one’s skill set is important as a leader. However, ultimately it is the behavior of a person that is the final demonstration of good leadership. Wendy uses the acronym FIDAH to talk about the five behaviors that are critical to leadership. 

i) F- Focus
ii) I- Integrity 

                     iii) D- Decisiveness