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Three ideas to boost your leadership skills.

Scott Miller is no stranger to leadership. He's spent the past 25 years at FranklinCovey, rising to the ranks of Chief Marketing Officer eight years ago. Now, for the past two years, he's added author, speaker, and podcast host to his resume.

Before starting his podcast, On Leadership With Scott Miller, Scott saw his leadership career as a constant "two steps forward, one step back". He discovered there were about 30 challenges you will face and decided to write about them. What resulted is the highly engaging and relatable Management Mess to Leadership Success: 30 Challenges to Become the Leader You Would Follow—our 2019 OWL Award Leadership Category Winner. We spent some time with Scott to discuss his latest book and three key ideas.

Vulnerability is a Leadership Competency.

Stephen R. Covey, co-founder of FranklinCovey and author of the bestseller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, writes: "Humble leaders are more concerned about what is right than being right". Often, leaders go into "persuasion mode"—trying to influence others while being loud and dramatic. This leaves little room for humility, a skill that is imperative for a successful leader. You can't be a humble leader if you're always talking, persuading, and selling. Instead, take a step back and listen to what those around you have to say.

Build a Great Corporate Culture

As a leader, your number one job is to build a great culture. People don't quit their jobs, they quit bad leaders and corrupt cultures. This culture is all dependent on the leader—they create it in every conversation and interaction. Too often we think people are an organization's most valuable asset. It's the relationships between those people that are your competitive advantage and it's the leader's job to make sure these relationships are working out. As a leader, when you own your mess, you make it safe for others to own theirs. If your people are lying to you, that says more about you than it does about them—you've not made it safe for them to talk about their mistakes.

Effective vs. Efficient

One of the biggest messes Scott discusses is leaders not understanding the difference between being effective and being efficient. People who are highly efficient make the mistake of trying to be efficient in their relationships with other people. While efficiency is key when completing projects, interpersonal communication thrives best when you take a step back, slow down, and focus on the conversation at hand.

Watch the full AuthorConnect Chat below, and order Management Mess to Leadership Success in bulk for your team or organization today.

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This post was written by Megan Habel, Brand Strategist at BookPal. She is currently reading My Favorite Half-Night Stand by Christina Lauren.