In the first two articles in this series, I wrote about Strategies for Life Success and Building an Outstanding Career, two classes I will teach in 2027 at the Securities Industry Institute at Wharton. The third class focuses on leadership, a subject I have been teaching around the world for nearly 30 years. This updated program brings together what I have learned during that time with some of my newer thinking about what it means to lead well.
The central idea of the class is that leadership is stewardship.
A steward is someone who has been entrusted with something valuable and accepts responsibility for protecting it, improving it, and leaving it stronger. I will ask participants to think about leadership in three areas: stewarding themselves, stewarding their people, and stewarding the future of the organization.
We will begin with stewarding yourself.
Part of that means understanding what I call the non-negotiables of leadership, the characteristics that will never change. Honesty and integrity are essential. So are courage, excellent communication, the ability to collaborate with others, and genuine care for the people you lead. These will always remain foundational to excellent leadership.
We will also look at the capabilities leaders need to continue developing. I think about these in three broad areas: IQ, EQ, and AQ. I use IQ to describe your knowledge, skills, and competence. EQ is your emotional intelligence and your ability to work effectively with other people. AQ is your ability to remain agile, adaptable, and resilient as things change around you.
After exploring those ideas, I will ask participants to develop their own philosophy of leadership. They will think about the best leaders they have known and the characteristics, attributes, skills, and behaviors that made them outstanding. Those experiences, combined with what they have learned about leadership, can help them define the kind of leader they want to become.
The next area is stewarding your people.
A leader has a responsibility to create the conditions that allow talented people to do excellent work. That includes setting clear expectations, giving them the support they need, holding them accountable, and creating an environment where they can grow and succeed.
That commitment extends beyond helping people succeed at work. When you help someone develop their skills, build confidence, take on greater responsibility, and become more successful, you can have a significant impact on their life and their family. You don’t have to lead hundreds of people to make a difference. If you lead only a few, you still have the opportunity to help them become more successful.
Leaders also have a significant influence on the culture of their team. People pay attention to what you model, encourage, reward, and tolerate. Over time, those choices help establish how people treat one another, how seriously they take their commitments, and the level of performance that becomes acceptable.
The third area is stewarding the future.
Part of that role is developing people who are capable of taking on greater positions in the organization. That means identifying people with potential and giving them the experience, coaching, and opportunities they need to prepare for greater responsibility.
Stewarding the future also means thinking beyond the results you are producing today. Leaders influence the culture, capabilities, and people the organization will depend on in the years ahead. A good steward works to leave those things stronger for whoever comes next.
These are some of the ideas we will explore in the updated leadership class at SII. My goal is to have participants leave with a clearer understanding of what leadership requires and a personal philosophy that can guide how they lead.
Leadership gives you an extraordinary opportunity to influence other people’s lives and the future of the organization you serve. Whether you lead five people or five hundred, that influence is significant. Take good care of what has been entrusted to you.
If you would like to bring the Leadership is Stewardship program to your organization, send me a note.
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