When I talk with emerging leaders, those who are growing into leadership, oftentimes they tell me they’re not ready. “Why?” I ask. They tell me they can’t be ready because they don’t think they’ll be great leaders. “How do you think you become a great leader?” I ask. They tell me they have to study and learn and develop skills.

I tell them that, in order to lead with greatness, you have to start to lead. This often comes as a surprise. One doesn’t become a great leader simply by leading, but one cannot become a great leader without leading. Great leadership comes with time, maturity, intentionality, and study. It comes with learning from your mistakes. It comes with help. You can’t become great at leadership if you don’t start leading, and you won’t become great at leadership if you lead blindly. Some leaders won’t become great without help simply because they may not have the ability to see past their blind spots. And some leaders will get to “good” and get stuck there.

Clients hire me to help them with their leadership journey. They start to lead and they aren’t great. They wisely want help as soon as possible so they don’t make too many mistakes or build bad habits. I’ve worked with good leaders who want to be better. I’ve worked with exceptional leaders who want to be better. And I’ve worked with leaders who aren’t at all good, but who have developed the skills to lead extremely well. The leadership journey isn’t one size fits all, but the hallmarks of great leadership that the research shows are linked to business outcomes like market share, customer satisfaction, and employee retention are things that we can draw on to help you become a great leader. If you want to become a great leader, start to lead. Then let’s talk.