Leadership is a big buzzword these days. What does good leadership look like? Leigh Buchanan compiled a list of leadership styles in his article in Inc. magazine:

Adaptive
Emotionally Intelligent
Charismatic
Authentic
Level 5
Mindful
Narcissistic
No-Excuse
Resonant
Servant
Storytelling
Strengths-Based
Tribal

Most of these labels are pretty self-explanatory and each style comes at least with one book title attached.

In a recent Open Space session about leadership, these are the most important characteristics in a leader that the participants identified:

Can describe a common vision to motivate everybody moving into the same direction
Has the courage not to know but to be inspired
Not necessarily having an agenda
Limitless capacity for growth and stretching
Inspiring passion and connection at all levels
Finds the right things at the right time
Pulls from complexity and maintaining vision and values
Creates the value of preservation
Leads through intention like horses
Assures that every person involved knows the direction of the flock

To increase the impact of leadership, what about considering ourselves leaders in our own life, no matter what our title or position? Think about situations where you did not own being a leader simply because it seemed like too much trouble and later on you had that nagging feeling that things could have turned out much better if you had stepped up.

When we behave like leaders, no matter if at home or at work, we help create the environment we want to live in. In his book Karmic Management,Geshe Michael Roach links Karma and Leadership: if your leadership helps others to become successful, just think about how many points you keep racking up in the Karma piggybank.