They're short articles about growing as a leader, written for working managers. Each one covers a single subject, like leadership traits or motivating a team, and most of them point to a free tool you can use the same week.
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Leadership Development Articles
These leadership development articles cover various aspects of a leader's role and responsibilities. You'll learn about how you can grow as a leader. They're short enough to read on a lunch break, and most of them point to a free tool you can use right away.
If you'd like to work through leadership development in order, the 10 Steps to Leadership Development series has its own page, linked below.
The articles on this page are grouped by subject, so you can go straight to the one that fits what you're working on.
There's no set order for these articles. A supervisor six months into the role might start with Leadership vs Management, while a parent looking for ways to build confidence in a ten-year-old will get more from the three articles on leadership skills for kids.
Jump To: Leadership Skills | Leadership for Kids | Example | FAQ
LOOKING FOR THE 10 STEPS SERIES?
10 Steps to Leadership Development
The ten-part series has its own page, starting with what drives you to lead and finishing with making time for life outside work.
Go to the 10 Steps seriesBuilding Your Leadership Skills
Many new managers were promoted because they were good at the work they were currently doing, but the traits that got them there aren't always the same ones their team needs from them now. The first three articles look at what effective leaders do differently, with examples you can hold up against your own week, and the fourth helps you keep your own goals in front of you.
Leadership Traits
The 14 traits the U.S. Marine Corps teaches its leaders, from integrity to endurance, each with a talking point for your next team meeting.
Leadership vs Management
Five areas where managers and leaders tend to differ, from how they set goals to how they build relationships, and questions to help you decide what to work on next.
Leadership Motivation
Seven characteristics that move a team, plus a firm but supportive conversation with an employee named Joe who keeps missing the mark.
Vision Board App and Software
How to build a vision board with an app, software or a poster board, and what to put on it so your goals stay in front of you every day.
Teaching Leadership Skills to Kids
Many of the habits you use with your team work at home too. These articles are written for parents, and they build on each other, starting with the skills to teach and moving to an exercise you can do together with your kids.
Leadership Skills for Kids
The Golden Rule plus six skills to teach your child, from listening twice as much as they talk to getting back up after a fall.
Leadership Activities for Kids
The Best-of-the-Best exercise, a ten-minute conversation that helps your child see what they did as a leader when they did their best.
Leadership Skills Training for Kids: Teach, Coach, Expect
Teach, Coach, Expect applied to chores at home, with the story of how one teenager learned to clean a bathroom to company-ready.
How One New Supervisor Used These Articles
PRIYA'S FIRST QUARTER
Priya was promoted in January to supervise the six claims processors she used to work beside. Her first month, she read Leadership vs Management and saw that most of her week went to solving the team's problems and almost none of it to where the team was headed. She picked two of the 14 leadership traits to work on, decisiveness and initiative, and wrote them on an index card she kept next to her monitor.
In March, one processor missed the same weekly deadline for the third time. Priya used the firm but supportive approach from Leadership Motivation, telling him his success mattered to her and spelling out what would happen if it came up again. He met the next six deadlines.
Two articles and one index card used for quick reference in leadership development.
More for Leaders
The articles pair well with the free tools on this site, which are organized into three phases of leadership:
- Leading Self tools for your own goals, habits and development.
- Leading People tools for coaching, feedback and one-on-ones.
- Leading Teams tools for planning, priorities and team meetings.
Leadership Development Articles FAQ
The questions below address what leaders most commonly ask about these leadership development articles.
Click on the (+) sign below to expand each question. Click the (-) sign to collapse it again.
What are leadership development articles?
Where should a new manager start?
Start with the article that fits the problem in front of you this week. If you're not sure, Leadership vs Management is a good first read, because it helps you see how the job changes when you move from doing the work to leading the people who do it.
What is the 10 Steps to Leadership Development series?
It's a ten-part series that works through leadership development in order, starting with what drives you to lead and ending with making time for life outside work. The series has its own page, and each step can be read on its own.
Are the leadership development articles free?
Yes. Every article and every tool on Leadership-Tools.com is free to read and download, with no sign-up required.
Can I use these articles with my team?
Yes. Leadership Traits has a talking point for each of the 14 traits, so you can cover one trait at each team meeting, and the conversation with Joe in Leadership Motivation works as a model when you coach someone who keeps missing the mark.
Who are the leadership articles for kids written for?
They're written for parents, and the exercises also work for anyone who leads young people, like a coach or a scout leader. Start with Leadership Skills for Kids, then try the Best-of-the-Best exercise in Leadership Activities for Kids.
More Leadership Article Collections
10 Steps to Leadership Development
A ten-part series that works through leadership development in order.
Business Management Articles
Running the business side, from cash flow and funding to hiring and meetings.
Team Building Articles
Building a team that works well together, from hiring the right person to keeping spirits up.
Sales Management Articles
Leading a sales team, from recognition programs to courtesy calling scripts.
Customer Service Articles
Serving customers well, from handling an angry customer to keeping customers coming back.
Richard Gorham has led teams in financial services for more than 30 years, from retail branches and operations to investments and insurance, and he still leads a team today.
He founded Leadership-Tools.com in 2002 to give managers free, practical tools like the ones he used in his various leadership roles. Every tool here has been used in a real workplace and comes with a filled-in example you can follow.
