Top 10 takeaways (you can’t live without) from Linkage’s 2015 Global Institute for Leadership Development^®

Over 500 leaders from around the globe joined us at Linkage’s Global Institute for Leadership Development^® earlier this month. This five-day immersion learning experience is facilitated by a faculty of 60 best-selling authors, thought leaders, coaches and international business leaders. Participants had the unique opportunity to lean in, press pause and begin to write the next chapter in their leadership story. We challenged them to think in new ways, inspired them with stories of courageous leadership, and ignited their journey of self-discovery—in more ways than we ever thought possible. Without further ado, we’re thrilled to share the leadership takeaways (along with resources from our faculty) that the GILD Class of 2015 left Palm Desert with, and were inspired to take on:

1. Find your purpose in life and as a leader. Purpose is a mindset and a choice that we make about what we get up for every day. Lead with purpose using Richard Leider’s practical approach.
2. Be vulnerable and take risks. Courage and decisive leadership help create a culture of excellence. Practice curiosity. Ask questions. Use Jim Collins’s diagnostic tool to get started.
3. Once we ask for help, life gets better. Live your best life by pressing pause. Hold yourself accountable using Marshall Goldsmith’s Daily Questions Process.
4. Bring out the best in your team. Culture is a conversation started by leaders and punctuated by the things that we do. Your emotional intelligence plays a big role.
5. Practice resiliency to define your mission. It’s human to assume the status quo. Break free from your past successes. Destroy your business to create something new.
6. Focus on what you can influence. Challenging circumstances can help you show up in new and different ways. Read a firsthand account of one leader’s journey through crisis.
7. Create success for others. Build a leadership pipeline, not a pipe dream. Rethink your approach to developing tomorrow’s leaders to create long-term success.
8. Live your values. Don’t assess them in a survey. Sit down with people and ask them simple, but important questions. Step up to the plate with Dave Logan’s 21-Day Leadership Challenge.
9. Articulate your vision. Model authentic openness and vulnerability with your team. High-performing teams create healthy organizations.
10. Identify opportunities to innovate. Innovation is a business imperative to remain competitive. Be courageous and invest, but avoid these common traps.

Which leadership takeaways resonate with you and why? Share with us in the comments section below. Shameless plug: we’re celebrating 20 years of transforming good leaders into great leaders at this remarkable program in 2016! Mark your calendar for October 16-20, 2016, and stay tuned as details unfold.