At Leaderzlog, we strive for a world with no missed opportunity for leaders and no organization missing out on leaders. Leaders can be found across the society and at all levels, within your ranks, your subordinates, your higher ups. When you are a leader, others follow you for how you act, how you think, what values you project and what principles you obey. You attract others whether they are obligated to you or not. Your contribution is uniquely valuable because you can bring people together and influence them. You can enable your organization’s mission, help retain talent, and create other leaders. Therefore, it is in the highest interest of every organization to consider leadership as a characteristic in their hiring, promotion, and reward systems. It is also in society’s interest to discover, support and encourage people who project leadership characteristics.
Leadership is a self-acquired characteristic, not a learned skill or a held role. There exist many leaders with no one reporting to them and there are many managers, directors, executives who are not necessarily leaders. Past success or failure doesn’t attest to future success or failure. The times, our environment and our luck will change. Only who we are will fundamentally remain the same.
Resumes say nothing about who we are and often result in decisions which prove not to be in the best interest of the individual or the organization. People are not engineers, analysts, accountants, salespeople, managers or executives. Those are what they do. Their degrees, where they received their education, where they worked before and where they are in their careers don’t tell who they are. Yet, who we are determines where we fit and matters most for our success in a given setting.
Leaderzlog addresses the problem by using the simplicity and power of writing. Written words help us inquire within and synthesize our thoughts. They reveal who we are, first to us, then to others. To what you did, achieved and know (your resume), Leaderzlog adds what drove you, how you made your choices, why you got to where you are, why you succeeded and why you failed when you failed. Then it prompts you to articulate your professional philosophies, principles, and thought processes. Finally, it asks others who have known and observed you to respond to a simple questionnaire about your prevailing work style. The questionnaire is not a personality test and there is no good or bad style, only your style. Style determines what type of organization and where in that organization you fit in order to reach your leadership potential.
In aggregate, Leaderzlog provides professional profiles which include:
Background and education described in prose
Answers to thought stimulating questions
Guided blind references, including questionnaire for style and fit
No data on gender, age, ethnicity, race, national origin
Profiles stay anonymous until authors are contacted and give their consent.
By joining Leaderzlog, we invite you to envision and participate in a professional world where everyone can attain their leadership potential. You feel you belong to your surrounding where you can be your authentic self and don’t have to hold back. Your needs for growth, challenge and security are met and you are able to focus entirely on what needs to be accomplished for the common purpose. It is a win-win, for you and the organization you have an obligation to.
Suggested Reading:
“Reaching Your Potential” https://hbr.org/2008/07/reaching-your-potential
“What Makes a Leader?” https://hbr.org/2004/01/what-makes-a-leader
“To Reduce Gender Bias, Anonymize Job Applications”
https://hbr.org/2020/03/research-to-reduce-gender-bias-anonymize-job-applications
“Incompetent Male Leaders: The Case for Talent Over Gender”
https://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article/do-women-make-better-managers-than-men/
“How to Edit Your Own Writing”
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/07/smarter-living/how-to-edit-your-own-writing.html
