The days of being able to lead without awareness are over. If you’re a leader and take that responsibility for granted, you’re already behind your competition.
While 83% of employers state it’s crucial to develop leaders at all levels, only 14% of high-level executives have the leadership talent they need to grow their businesses, according to LinkedIn. As a leader, you need to give people a reason to follow you.

Having worked with hundreds of entrepreneurs, I’ve seen how deeply the leader’s personal habits shape a company’s day-to-day environment. While some owners unintentionally undermine morale by being erratic or micromanaging, others foster a sense of trust, empowerment, and collaboration. The difference often comes down to purposeful culture-building. For example, one client of mine ran a family-owned manufacturing firm. She was highly respected for her technical know-how, but her erratic communication style created anxiety among her employees.

How good are you at decisions? Here’s how to up your game. Making decisions is a key function of leadership. Leaders must make complex decisions that affect the lives of their teams, businesses, and communities. Expertise in the fine art of making decisions can empower you to make good ones while creating a culture that fosters collaboration and innovation.

In a crisis, the knowledge and experience of the people in the room is always smarter than any one single person in it. This collective, networked intelligence—what we might call “the wisdom of the room”—is a critical resource for teams navigating high-stakes, complex, rapidly adapting problems. However, the wisdom of the room is not something that teams can automatically use, especially during chaotic situations. Teams are often more productive and creative when they add cognitive diversity and include different skill sets, backgrounds, and perspectives.

Today marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of Sir Winston Churchill, the iconic British Prime Minister who led his nation out of the dark days of World War II to victory. Most often, Sir Winston expressed his inspirational leadership with the oratorical skills he exhibited in the more than 2,500 speeches he gave over his lifetime. In a prior blog, you read how you can adopt the five principal elements of content and delivery Churchill deployed in his speeches in your own presentations.

My company, Jotform, was not an overnight success. I didn't wake up one day to find myself the darling of TechCrunch or attract massive funding rounds from VCs ravenous to get in on the form-building action. I probably don't have to tell you that a form-builder is not the world's sexiest basis for a startup. But that doesn't bother me one bit. Jotform became successful not because it's flashy, but because our products work.

Digital transformation is now an inevitability, focusing on the approach rather than the decision to proceed — and at the heart of this evolution lies artificial intelligence (AI). In today's fast-paced digital landscape, companies are turning to AI as a game-changing asset that fuels growth, enhances efficiency, and sparks innovation. Successfully embracing AI goes beyond mere technology; it necessitates forward-thinking leadership that comprehends both its possibilities and its obstacles.

It was early in my journey as a facilitator, and I was leading a development workshop on navigating your career to a room of seasoned leaders. I had only facilitated a few times before, and if I’m honest, I was more focused on keeping the energy up and making a good impression. I’d nailed a joke, tossed out another, and felt a surge of pride when the whole room burst into laughter.

Stories stick in our brains 22 times better than facts and figures. There's a reason why we tell stories to our children at bedtime rather than reading them fact-based reports. The human brain is wired for stories. Partly due to our evolutionary survival, and also due to our emotional limbic system, humans have often used storytelling as a cornerstone of belonging and inclusion.

Artificial intelligence has the power to automate and streamline countless business processes and improve efficiency across just about every sector. However, AI tools (and the humans using them) need guidance and training to perform to their full potential, which makes strong leadership more important than ever. Below, members of Forbes Business Development Council discuss the leadership skills that are still relevant in the age of AI.

Artificial intelligence has the power to automate and streamline countless business processes and improve efficiency across just about every sector. However, AI tools (and the humans using them) need guidance and training to perform to their full potential, which makes strong leadership more important than ever. Below, members of Forbes Business Development Council discuss the leadership skills that are still relevant in the age of AI.

As a leader, one of the most significant challenges you face is managing your time effectively. With countless demands on your attention, it’s easy to get caught up in the urgency trap, where you find yourself constantly putting out fires and neglecting the truly important initiatives that drive your organization forward. To overcome this challenge, you need a powerful tool that can help you prioritize your responsibilities and stay focused on what matters most.

Over the past decade, workplace leaders have preached about the importance of employee engagement. But as a leadership consultant, I have found that very few organizations actually take employee engagement seriously. It’s time leaders admit it. The moment has come when leaders must stop pretending we care about engagement. Let’s quit asking workers to fill out surveys that everyone knows are insincere, “check-the-box” activities

TikTok is seeing an increasing trend among all too many workers: #boredatwork. This one hashtag has over 200,000 videos attached to it, clips often using humor to expose the otherwise depressing culture of underwhelming in the workplace. Many of the clips are of people stirring the pot – workers engaged in small acts of mischief in an effort to disrupt the monotony of the workday.

As a keynote speaker, I simplify and break down leadership into its most basic form: helping people and supporting them to be and do their best. When employees don't have the right tools, training, time, or support, their morale drops, and they might not put in much effort. This can happen right from the start, within their first few weeks. It's important to realize that not all managers are created equally, and many must learn how to lead effectively.

When someone rises to a leadership position, they are often expected to have both technical expertise and the ability to think strategically. However, what happens when an individual becomes a leader without demonstrating essential people skills? A leader who lacks soft skills can inadvertently lower team morale and damage interpersonal relationships, ultimately hindering productivity.

The skills-based revolution isn’t the future, it’s already here: It’s been over a year since major employers like Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Apple, eliminated their long-held degree requirements for jobs to remove barriers to entry and recruit more diverse talent—much to the dismay of those who have splashed out thousands on a college degree. Now, LinkedIn has put the final nail in the coffin for those hoping that a stellar education alone is enough to land you a killer job.

In the high-stakes world of professional sports, I've often seen leaders feel the pressure to present themselves as infallible, unerring, and flawless. I've seen coaches act as if they needed everyone to know they hold the playbook for every possible scenario, and athletes constantly feel the urge to justify their mistakes, not to have to accept their imperfections.

Effective leadership extends beyond simply completing rote management tasks: It requires a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ). This crucial skill, encompassing the ability to understand, manage, and express one’s emotions and handle interpersonal relationships ethically and empathetically, has become essential to leadership success. EQ is not only about being aware of your emotions, but also about using that awareness to lead, inspire, and positively impact your team and organization.

Over the last twenty years, I've coached and trained hundreds of leaders to be more effective on the people side of the business. Observing middle and senior-level managers overcome their limitations and develop greater emotional intelligence to become better leaders has been an immensely gratifying experience.