Yes, you can acquire leadership skills by taking courses, attending leadership programmes or working with a coach or mentor.

But.

The mind never stops searching. If you give in to your thoughts, they will make you believe that after completing one program, you need another one. That maybe a 360 assessment will reveal shortcomings. Just book another external course and everything will be fine.

Just do a Google search to find the top 10 most sought-after leadership skills. Implement them all.

Then you will be a modern leader.

That will only last so long. The world is changing and so are workplace expectations.

If you’re my age, you may remember the age of feedback. When everyone was supposed to give feedback on everything. In fact, it went so far that we started giving each other feedback on each other’s feedback.

And then for a long time it’s been the purpose-driven leader, the one with high emotional intelligence. Solution providers will tell you that everything can be learned in a course or a class, so don’t worry about it.

All this adds layers of external pressure on you. And it all overlooks one important factor: That leadership comes from within.

But if true leadership were merely a learned skill, could it be unlearned or forgotten just as easily? It seems unlikely for something so fundamental.

So why not look at what is already part of you, the skills you already possess?

To exude charisma and confidence, to come across as pragmatic, it’s not enough to work through a set of learning slides, you need to see what’s already there.

Presence, awareness. Inherent to all of us. Available to all of us. But usually hidden beneath the noise of everyday life.

Find that space and you’ll take a leap. That’s what I can promise.

Let me know what you think.