2 Actions to Help You Become a Better Leader in 2015

Do you want to be a better leader this year than you were last year?

Me too.

How do we get there?  Just like anything else – it takes intentional effort.

Here are two actions you can take to help you become a better leader in 2015.

1) Read.  Yes, I know.  Who has time to read all that they want to read?  Well, I know this.  You make time for the things that are important to you.  Your calendar reflects what those things are.

I’m being very intentional this year about the books I’m reading.  I want to grow in my leadership, so I’m shooting to read 2 books a week specifically focused on growing as a leader.  I’m currently reading The E-Myth Revisited by Michael Gerber, with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey on deck.  What are you reading?  Write it down and review weekly where you are with this action.  An investment of 30 minutes a day can really make a difference.

2) Learn.  Learn from those who are farther down the road than you are – people who are better leaders that you can learn from.  I do this by reading, but I also do it by learning at conferences.

One of my dreams for Southview has been for it to be a place where leaders in our community of all kinds – church leaders, business leaders, non-profit leaders, and leaders of other organizations – can come for leadership development and training.  We’ve hosted a number of conferences and workshops in the past, and I’m very excited that in 2015 we’ll be the local host site for the Leadercast in May and the Willow Creek Global Leadership Summit in August.  Both of these conferences have been significant learning experiences for me in past years, and I’m very excited that we’re able to bring them to the Herndon/Reston area.

If you don’t already have on your calendar opportunities to go and learn from other leaders, to get around and listen to leaders who are farther down the road than you are, schedule them!  You can make this happen – you just have to choose to do so.

If you’re in northern Virginia and you’d like to join us for one of the leadership conferences above, you can get tickets and register using the links above.  It’s be great to connect with you at these events as we get better together!

What would you add to my list above?  What can you do to get better as a leader this year?