Leadership Lessons

Our six-month editorial board project Leadership Dialogues ended Sunday with a discussion with Spokane Symphony music director Eckart Preu.

Doug Floyd, Colin Mulvany and I all enjoyed talking with our six dialoguers and we all came away with ah-ha! moments from the interviews in terms of leadership lessons.

I’m going to list mine here. Doug and Colin, feel free to add yours, if so inclined.

Effective leaders:

1) Listen well.

2) Respect differing talents and gifts among those they lead, rather than try to force them all into the same mold.

3) Understand that their leadership power comes from the position, not from the person.

4) Admit mistakes, then move beyond them.

5) Praise people for jobs well done and share credit for successes.

6) Act humbly but with confidence.

7) Make decisions often and well.

(Eckart Preu photo by Colin Mulvany/The Spokesman-Review)