3 Tips To Improve Leadership Skills

David Burkus
3 min readNov 20, 2023

Great leaders aren’t born, they’re made. While it’s tempting to look at stories of great leaders and just assume they’re received some divine or genetic gift that turned them into exemplars, the truth is much more nuanced. Leadership is a skill that can be honed and improved with practice and the right guidance. This article will explore three key habits that can significantly enhance your leadership skills: creating clarity, establishing safety, and speaking purpose. These habits are not just theoretical concepts but are based on well-researched findings on what constitutes a high-performing team culture.

Creating clarity involves setting clear goals, milestones, and expectations for the team. This is crucial in a world where teams often operate in an unclear and volatile environment. Establishing safety, on the other hand, means creating a climate where team members feel comfortable taking interpersonal risks, such as disagreeing or sharing ideas. Finally, speaking purpose involves regularly communicating the importance of the team’s work and how it benefits others. This is not just about performance objectives or bonuses but about connecting the team’s work to a greater good.

Let’s take a deeper look at all three.

Creating Clarity

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David Burkus

Author of BEST TEAM EVER | Keynote Speaker | Organizational Psychologist | Thinkers50 Ranked Thought Leader | davidburkus.com/social