I'm a major fan of the word "practice." I've even considered getting it tattooed on my arm.

Because that's what everything in life is, really: practice.

In our leadership journeys, we often focus on the destination that we're aiming for: that role we've set our sights on, the moment when we step into leadership by managing direct reports or a heading up a big project, or a specific achievement that we think will give us the sense that we've finally "arrived."

But leadership is not something that suddenly kicks in when you reach a destination. It's a practice that happens all along the way.

What's your unique leadership style?

There are hundreds of (often expensive) assessments available to “discover” your leadership style. But my approach is built on the belief that YOU are the expert on you.

I believe that taking the time to capture how you uniquely show up as a leader should be a generative process.

I've got Leadership on the mind this President's Day.

The presidency is, in some ways, the ultimate leadership position.

As we reflect on Dr. King's legacy today, I'm thinking about his role as a visionary leader.

It reminds me of a simple but powerful concept called Creative Tension, which was formed by Peter Senge, a professor of organizational learning at MIT's Sloan School of Management.

One of my clients is in the process of earning her graduate degree in organizational leadership and learning.

She’s taking a course this summer on leadership development, and she shared with me that the course materials included a list of 45 must-have core skills for leaders. She wondered about my take on the topic.

My eyes bugged out of my head for a second.

I definitely have a take: 45 core skills for leaders is an impossible standard. It sets all leaders up for failure. It’s unwieldy and overwhelming. And it puts leadership in a place where it will always be just out of reach.

My own leadership philosophy took a while to crystallize, but it's quite simple…

I have a new puppy / sidekick / coworker named Rosie. She's an adorable, quickly-growing, rescue beagle/terrier mix, and she is my first dog ever. What does having a dog have to do with leadership? As it turns out—everything.