Learning to Lead: A Series Introduction

I wrote a book.  It’s still a little surreal, so I have to type it simply like that.  It’s not a big book.  It’s not being mega produced and distributed.  But it’s a book.  For working women.  About leadership.  And it has my name on the cover. 

Butterflies.  My dream, soon to be in my hot little hands.  I hope it will be in your hot little hands too in August (give-aways coming upon release).  So in the less than two months before its release date, I’m going to feature some leadership tips and techniques I learned over the months that I researched and interviewed and wrote and edited.  Techniques that I applied and that led me to a new job.  To a new board position.  To make bold requests.  And to take some risks.  I hope it will resonate with you too. 

Today is just an introduction about this new Tuesday series called Learning to Lead because the book is entitled Learning to Lead.  I know, super original series title.  The book is focused specifically on women in legal fields, regardless of whether corporate, private practice, government, or non-profit, but it features techniques applicable across any profession.  Primarily because I studied all the leading research and collective wisdom about effective women leaders before applying it practically to legal fields.  Additionally, I interviewed a number of women in the last segment of the book who, while they hold law degrees, no longer practice law – the CEO of a non-profit, an US Senator, a Vice Chair of a major financial house, an Executive Vice President of an energy company, and so forth.  Their wisdom inspired me and really moved me from a state of inaction, where I had resided since having the babies, to a state of forward motion and clearer direction.

Every time I read the latest research or visited with an effective leader, the same concepts repeated in the storyline.  Some of the leading techniques have been so frequently touted as to blunt their effectiveness.  I hope to reinvigorate those.  Other techniques I hadn’t given much thought to in the past.  Personal skills and traits like authenticity, optimism, risk-taking, vision-setting, and speaking up appear as the leadership keys to the kingdom.  So each Tuesday, I will tackle one of the topics and illustrate how it could be used effectively to either develop or improve your leadership quotient. 

I would also love to hear back from you on what has worked, or not worked, as you have led and been led.  I can learn as much from an ineffective leader as I can from an effective one at times.  I’m looking forward to sharing more about Learning to Lead as the summer progresses and hope to live blog from the book release in San Francisco in early August.  Stay tuned!