Why intentional leadership is important

You might think that to be a great leader or coach you have to be the expert in the room with all the answers.

Maybe you feel like you have to be the one putting out all the fires and completing urgent tasks instead of using your problem-solving skills and your time to address the most impactful challenges to develop people.

So, what if that belief isn’t true?

What if you don’t have to be the expert in the room?

What if you don’t have to have all the answers?

How do the great leaders lead?

Great leaders are intentional. They practice heart-centered leadership and they have a great clarity of purpose.

They are caring, curious, and courageous.

They create the capacity and confidence to help others learn, grow, develop and succeed.

They also align with their core purpose and passion of supporting people to be their true and best selves, so they can meet their most important challenges.

They embrace a lifetime of continuous learning.

This is what is known as intentional leadership.

Leading with intention

Intentional leadership is one of the most powerful ways to nurture transformation and discovery in your people, as they learn, grow, develop and succeed, while your business, your team, and you achieve significant results.

And there’s no reason why you can’t do it, too.

When you lead with intention, you align you actions with your purpose.

By leading with intention, you begin to successfully navigate the continuums of:

• When to ask and when to tell
• How to provide both challenges and support as people are learning
• How to achieve business results while developing people at the same time

Intentional leadership guides you to better fulfill your purpose as a leader and coach, while helping others to be their best selves.

How do you lead with intention?

Take a moment and reflect on these questions:

• How do you set direction and provide challenges?
• How can you support and nurture your people as they pursue these challenges?
• What is your attitude towards “failure”?
• Do you teach your team the process of learning — and of failing — or do prescribe the “answer”?
• What questions do you ask to foster curiosity and learning?
• And how are you constantly developing yourself as a leader?

Consider these three practices that can help you develop the habits of intentional people-centered leaders:

1 - Take an “intention pause”.

Take a pause to slow down and connect with purpose. Ask yourself, what is my purpose — in this role, in this moment? And then follow that question with another: how do I align my actions to reflect this purpose?

When you are aware of how your actions are in alignment (or not) with your purpose, you can be more intentional in how you speak, interact, and engage with other to accomplish their goals -- and yours. This is leading with intention!

2 - Get out of your telling habit!

Pay attention to the quality of your questions & listen openly (not just with your ears).

Be aware of the words you use and how they could be received. Ask open questions from a place of curiosity to learn what the other person is thinking, not to lead them to your answer.

For 3 Tips to break your telling habit - visit KBJAnderson.com to download your free guide.

And when you ask questions, don’t forget to listen. Listening goes beyond your ears: listen with your heart and an open mind. Hear their worries. Embrace their ideas. Check assumptions. Care about the impact of your response.

Be intentional in that very moment, with that individual person. It will make all the difference. 

3 - Create time for reflection.

Don’t forget that reflection is the beginning of learning! Take time to reflect and learn.

Reflection is the "study" or "check" part of the scientific method learning cycle continuous improvement (Study-Adjust-Plan-Do-Study-Adjust).

Reflection is where learning happens and where wisdom is created. If we create moments to slow down, to think, to reflect, we will accelerate the rate of our learning and our performance. And we will accelerate the learning process of those around us.

 "Reflection is the beginning, not the end of learning". 

Leading with intention means that you connect with purpose, you are moving towards a challenge or goal, and that you realize the importance of each step that it takes to get there. And that you learn along the way!

Embracing the Power of "And" 

Being a leader also doesn’t have to be paired with an either/or mentality.

Leading with intention is about moving away from the “either/or” mindset that limits you and your team’s potential and replacing it with “and”.

The art of leadership is in moving between two poles on the same spectrum:

• You can achieve goals and help your team achieve theirs.
• You can maintain your expertise and help others cultivate theirs at the same time.
• You can guide your team toward solutions and empower them to be innovative in finding new ones.
• You can seek success and celebrate the fact that your team can collectively achieve it, too!

By navigating these leadership continuums you can become the leader you know you can be and the one that your team wants to follow.

Accelerate Towards Intentional Leadership

I want to help you become a more intentional leader that leads from the heart and from the mind -- and have created the Leading to Learn Accelerator to help you do just that. 

The Learning to Lead Accelerator isn’t just a course; it’s an accelerator for your personal growth as a leader and a learner, and it has the power to transform yourself, your team, and your organization. 

Part book study and self-paced reflection based on the lessons within my bestselling book Learning to Lead, Leading to Learn, part facilitated course, part group coaching, the Accelerator is designed to support you in becoming a more intentional people-centered leader in just 10 weeks.

Here’s what’s waiting for you on the other side of the Accelerator:

• The ability to lead from the heart
• Greater clarity of purpose
• Tangible intentional, people-centered leadership practices to ask better questions, align priorities, and creating a culture of learning & caring
• The capacity and confidence to help others learn, grow, develop and succeed
• Alignment with your core purpose and passion of supporting people to be their true and best selves and to meet the most important challenges

I’ve had the pleasure of helping thousands of individuals and their organizations reach their full potential, and I’m ready to help you do the same. 

Enrollment is now open for those of you who are committed to become the leader and coach that they know they can be -- and their team deserves.

Join the Leading to Learn Accelerator today!

About Katie Anderson

LET’S MAKE A POSITIVE IMPACT ON THE WORLD TOGETHER.

I’m Katie Anderson, internationally recognized leadership and learning coach, consultant, and professional speaker, and this is what I believe:

Intentional leadership and coaching is one of the most powerful ways to nurture transformation and discovery in your people, as they learn, grow, develop and succeed, while your business achieves significant results.

Intentional leadership is what I live and breathe every day.

I am excited to share my knowledge and passion for people-centered leadership and learning organizations with you so that—together—we can make a positive impact on the world. For more information visit: KBJAnderson.com

Join the Accelerator Today!

Hear from Sabrina about the impact the Accelerator had on her life & leadership: