| | JULY 2024MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM8In MyOpinionWe all know leadership is essential in driving positive business outcomes. We know that leaders can make or break a company. Yet, leadership is not easily defined by a list of traits or techniques. It is not something that can be acquired by simply following a formula. Leadership is a mindset, a way of being, a practice of influence and impact. It is the sum of countless moments of decision, action, communication, and collaboration that shape the culture and performance of any organization. Leadership requires constant learning, self-reflection, and adaptation to the changing needs and demands of the people you lead and the business environment. And it's hard. I'm not the greatest at posting. No selfies, I forget to ask others to grab an action shot that I can use for LinkedIn, Facebook or any of the socials. But yesterday was a meaningful day and I wish I had captured it. It was a moment that mattered, an opportunity to pass on my leadership lessons to my son. I invited him to sit in the back of a lecture hall where I spoke to a full room of undergraduate business students as a guest speaker about what it means to be a leader. It turns out that this class will be the first of his post-high school years as he heads off to college in the fall. I procrastinated writing that talk. It swam in my mind for weeks before I sat down to put my thoughts on paper. It felt more like a dissertation on my adult life rather than a story about my roles, and once I sat down, it just poured out. That's the thing about leadership. It's not about the jobs you've had. It's about how you make decisions along the way, how you deal with and learn from them, and how you bring your team along. If others are anything like me, we are moving fast. Juggling the world of corporate expectations and personal lives, finding moments of quiet few and far between. We move from one challenge to the next, hoping that one day we will figure out how to `get it right.' I realized it had been some time since I reflected on my journey and as I sat down to write my talk, I began to consider the lessons I learned along the way. We can't control how fast business is changing or the headwinds heading in our direction. That is simply gravity. But as I began to write, I reminded myself how important it is to self-reflect. To look back and ask yourself the difficult questions. To reflect on the words we use, the shadow we cast, and the care we show to the people we work with every day. Because, in the end, this is all we can control. INTENTIONAL LEADERSHIP: A PRACTICE OF SELF-REFLECTIONBy Amy Schultz, MSHROD, MSW, Chief Learning Officer & Executive Director Organizational Effectiveness, DTE EnergyAmy Schultz
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