Over the past couple of weeks I have had the wonderful opportunity to hear a variety of speakers talk about their own personal leadership journeys and offer tips and tricks to inspire their audience towards good leadership.

My first experience was at the World Nuclear University Summer Institute (WNU SI).  Four speakers from Women in Nuclear (WiN) spoke on their personal leadership journeys. From Ottawa I headed off to the U.S. WiN conference  and once again was inspired by the many female speakers who spoke of their own experiences in leadership.

Here is a short list of qualities I heard over and over again, that work for the women who spoke:

• Take a risk. Move outside your comfort zone. It is so easy to stay with what you know best, right there in that comfortable spot. However, to be a good leader you really need to diversify that resume.
• Don’t be afraid to go out there and look for difficult challenges. Reinvent yourself. Ask for those stretch assignments.
• Take charge of your own development. Show management you are interested in a variety of tasks and positions and volunteer for assignments. Be your own advocate. If an opportunity is right in front of you, go and grab it. Step up and have confidence in your abilities.
• Treat people the way you would like to be treated. Work well on teams and solicit help from team members. Recognize that everyone has strengths they bring to the table. Look for those strengths and help the team recognize each individual’s strengths. Build positive relationships.
• Give back at work and outside of work. Use those skills you have developed to help others through mentoring at work or volunteering in the community. You will learn a lot in the process, which in turn will make you a better leader.
• Be yourself and take care of your mind, body and soul. Find the one thing that helps you de-stress and incorporate it into your day. Don’t forget the all important work/life balance. Find out what work/life balance means for you personally, as it is not the same for everyone.
• Find a mentor. We talked about this a lot in other blog posts. It is important to find someone who can help you with areas you know require improvement.
• Work hard. Showing you can do the job builds confidence in yourself and with your peers and gains their respect.

Do you have some advice to add to the list? Share your tips and tricks by adding a comment. We all learn from one another.