"How would people describe your leadership style?"

Getting to the questions behind the question...and my approach to building culture.

At some point you're going to be asked, "How would people describe your leadership style?" or "Tell me about your philosophy for leading teams."

What they want to know is what it's like to work with you, to work with your team, or in some cases what it's like to actually be on your team. These are questions about culture.

So let me ask you, how do you build culture in your team? Is it through social events, through all hands meetings, your communication style, or even perhaps in your policies or compensation plan? I'd love to hear examples of how you build culture in the comments.

I'll tell you my approach. It's to start by inspiring a shared vision. We have a mission statement and a charter, of course, but I often take it one step further. I create what I call Leader Lines.

Think of Leader Lines as super short elevator pitches. They paint a picture of who we are, how we act, and our shared aspirations as a team.

These are real Leader Lines that I've used to inspire a shared vision in my teams:

▶︎ We are called to answer the essential questions of our time.
▶︎ We are critical thinkers and thought leaders.
▶︎ We lead the change we want to see.

They are powerful, clear, and speak directly about who we are, how we act, and our shared aspirations.

There is so much more to share on this, and I cover that in my next post...more examples of real Leader Lines, why I believe they work, and how to build them so everyone shares in bringing them to life.

And it's great to learn from each other. That's why I look forward to engaging your comments, reactions, and anything else that you'd like to share about your experience in building leadership or culture!

Let's keep the conversation going!

#leadership #teamsuccess #peopleleader #buildingteams #buildingculture #culturematters #ericduell #leaderlines