Developing Great Leadership Skills: Leaders don’t become great by accident
Great Leadership is an outcome. Leaders develop through practice—determined, strategic, and persistent day-to-day practice.
I have so many stories that I wanted to share this week. Let’s begin with one of my favorite books of late:
Best Restaurant in Town
Unreasonable Hospitality: The Remarkable Power of Giving People More Than They Expect.
It is a brilliant book. I have added it to the books I encourage organizations to purchase for their workshop attendees.
Written by Will Guidara and with a wonderful foreword by Simon Sinek, it is the story of how the author grew into the world of hospitality, growing the restaurant, along with his business partner, Chef Daniel Humm, at Eleven Madison Park in New York to become the World’s Best Restaurant in 2016.
Preparation Takes Practice
There are so many leadership and team-building metaphors throughout its pages. Let’s highlight the wonderful story about how the restaurant was waiting (and waiting and waiting) for the food critic from the New York Times to show up at the restaurant.
They had to do something to alleviate the mounting anxiety, so they decided to practice every night as if the critic were there.
Each night, a different table in the restaurant was designated as ‘The Critic Table’ for the evening’s dinner service. (Only the kitchen and wait staff knew which table it was.) They practiced week after week, and no one knew when the actual critic would arrive.
And then, as you can imagine, they opened the door one day – and there stood the critic.
But because they were ready, they aced it and were awarded four Stars, joining only five other restaurants in New York to receive this top award.
They did it because they practiced and succeeded when it came time to deliver. And then some!
The Interview
Recently a client contacted me to help them with an upcoming interview.
Disturbed by a past interview result, they realized they had not given it much thought since the unfortunate interview three years ago. The feedback notes file had been safely secured in the file cabinet. My client’s potential for leadership growth sat motionless between files marked “Evergreen -E” and “Get Ready – G.”
*** SIGH***
A Race to the Finish Line – Preparation and Practice
Have you seen the Netflix series called SPRINT: The World’s Fastest Humans?
These outstanding athletes practice and practice, highlighting the risks you run (pun intended) if you don’t practice.
Those who succeed practice daily. They invest in their craft.
Not unlike an athlete, Leadership is not a title you wear. It is a skill that you sharpen.
Training requires consistently sharpening skills until they become muscle memory, second nature—a natural way of being and doing.
Similar to the restaurant critic story earlier, we don’t know when the moment will arise when keen leadership skills will be required. But they will come, and you and I need to be ready.
It could be a crisis no one saw coming, an opportunity disguised as a challenge, or a pivotal decision with unimaginable stakes.
When that moment arrives, there won’t be time to prepare. It’s go-time.
The question is—are you ready?
Practice, Rehearse, Lead
No leader becomes excellent alone in the spotlight. It’s what happens behind the scenes, in the quiet moments when no one’s watching.
When you read Unreasonable Hospitality, you will read about their incremental improvements when the restaurant closed for the day.
Forget the Glamour
Leadership is a series of small decisions, developing little habits, and making daily commitments to improve, even when it’s not glamorous.
Leadership is about showing up—not just when it’s easy but when it’s difficult, not just in front of an audience, but when no one’s looking.
Because when that critical moment comes, you’ll fall back on your preparation, not your position.
When the knockout punch comes your way, your leadership muscle can only deliver the strength you have “worked out” to develop.
Why Practice Matters
Practicing great leadership is not optional. It’s essential because Leadership is unpredictable. One day, you may solve routine problems, and the next, you may navigate a crisis.
Without constant practice, you’ll be caught off guard.
But if you’ve rehearsed, prepared, and stretched your limits, you’ll be ready.
