100+ Facts about Leadership and Tips on Leading a Team
True facts on leadership are hard to come by on the internet, especially since there are so many books, articles, podcasts and various media that provide valuable insights on leadership facts. Learning about what good leaders think and practice is often a huge time investment without relying on peers and insights from others. However, having access to curated tips, ideas or facts about leadership is an amazing way to microlearn about this topic.
Discover Over 18000 leadership facts from trusted sources, curated by our community
Our facts on leadership and management are not just random fun insights, they are a crowdsourced community effort to curate the most inspiring pieces of media about leadership, like books, podcasts, articles, videos, documentaries and more, all about and for leadership. Reading our idea cards is a perfect way to assimilate and microlearn core concepts and facts on leadership without committing to a huge time investment to run through hundreds of specialty books or hours of podcasts.
Swipe through Leadership facts & ideas in the form from idea cards - curated from various reputable sources
Research shows that being ignored by one’s boss is more alienating than being treated poorly. The impact of absentee leadership on job satisfaction outlasts the impact of both constructive and overtly destructive forms of leadership. Constructive leadership immediately improves job satisfaction, but the effects dwindle quickly. Destructive leadership immediately degrades job satisfaction, but the effects dissipate after about six months.
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Great leaders inspire people to do better and develop their skills because leaders with a great leadership style can make anyone appear more competent than they actually are, and that builds confidence within the individual.
However, leaders who do have poor methods can drag down an individual with an exceptional skill set or even the whole team.
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Bad leaders harm individuals, teams and the organization. To improve your workplace, develop your own leadership, then hire and grow the best leaders at every level.
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"Leadership requires two things: a vision of the world that does not yet exist and the ability to communicate it.” - Simon Sinek
Because leaders value innovation, they are focused on the future and how they can improve it. They have a dream and direction that motivates and inspires others.
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Leadership is a process of social influence that works to increase the efforts of others in pursuit of a common goal.
What most do agree with is that good leaders don't wait for a title. They simply lead, and others naturally follow them.
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Leadership is knowing how to get the most out of a team, identifying the right set of goals to complete and setting direction. In business this is also known as “vision” as it’s more about knowing what is important then how to achieve it.
Good leadership assembles a competent team who share the vision regarding the goal, makes informed adjustments to it and mediates conflicts. All this while observing the ever-changing motivating forces of each team member, motivating, delegating and, when appropriate, interfering.
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"Instead of letting the situation dictate our decisions, we must dictate the situation."
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Born in New York in 1858, Theodore Roosevelt lived in an opposite reality to Lincoln. Son of a rich family, descendant of Dutch, Theodore studied at Harvard and had all the support of his family during his trajectory.
As a politician, he participated in the New York Assembly and was Director of the city's Police Department and also governor of the state, until in 1900 he was elected as Vice President alongside William McKinley.
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There are two ways in which leaders develop their personal styles:
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The best leaders know that they could not have accomplished much on their own. It takes a team, a group, to make things happen, so give each member of that team credit for your success.
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Leadership style cannot be fully separated from unconscious biases and discrimination.
However, we do not advise women and minorities to not be upset, to not disagree, and to not promote their achievements. Rather, to carefully select their social markers and develop a blended style that is suited to them.
The right assortment can allow you to show loyalty to the group you want to lead while still maintaining your uniqueness.
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To be successful in any workplace, leaders must have problem-solving skills . This quality enables them to see the situation from all angles and find the best solution for the organization. The best solutions often come from taking a step back and analyzing the situation.
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“If your imagination leads you to understand how quickly people grant your requests when those requests appeal to their self-interest, you can have practically anything you go after.”
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"Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things."
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Leaders focus on results, on what must be achieved by themselves, by others, and by the company. They focus on the strengths in themselves and others.
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Hiring, according to top corporate leaders, should not just be the standard job interview, which has become predictable and routine, but something creative and challenging.
One has to find new ways to find out how a person thinks, taking them out of their ‘seat of comfort’. Allowing candidates to speak their mind, or providing them challenging situations to work on can be a better indicator of their employability.
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Many training initiatives assume that the same group of skills or leadership styles are suitable without considering the strategy or organizational culture of a company.
An excellent leader in one situation does not necessarily perform well in another. Focusing on context means equipping leaders with two or three competencies that will make a distinction to performance, rather than a list of leadership standards that is of no specific benefit.
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The authoritarian leadership style:
Similar leadership styles:
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Great leaders find the balance between business foresight, performance, and character.
They have vision, courage, integrity, humility and focus along with the ability to plan strategically and catalyze cooperation amongst their team.
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According to this point of view, great leaders are born to lead with internal characteristics such as charisma, confidence, intelligence, and social skills.
Great man theories assume great leaders are born, not made. These theories suggest people cannot learn how to become strong leaders.
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What allowed Lincoln to know that it was the right time to implement such a transformation?
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Is a management style in which leaders are genuine, self-aware, and transparent.
An authentic leader is able to inspire loyalty and trust in her employees by consistently displaying who she/he really is as a person, and how she/he feels about her employees' performance.
Authentic leadership is the single strongest predictor of an employee's job satisfaction.
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These type of leaders focusing on giving tasks to their team. It can be effective, but team members will need to be competent.
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“The biggest risk is not taking any risk. In a world that is changing really quickly, the only strategy that is guaranteed to fail is not taking risks.”
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To get the work done, virtual leaders may become more directive because they feel a loss of control. It is difficult to monitor employees’ work remotely. To compensate, they over-rely on providing structure and direction to monitor and control.
Paradoxically, this more directive approach is the opposite of what is needed for effective virtual leadership. Instead, research suggests it is more important for virtual leaders to empower employees and promote self-leadership. Although leaders certainly need to provide structure and direction, they also need to learn how to let go.
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Successful leaders share 9 behavior patterns:
1. Identify your hidden desires, dreams and potential
2. Reject negativity. Direct your energy to actions that trigger hope
3. Consider the future implications of your actions
4. Improve difficult situations, even when they are not your responsibility
5. Achieve your biggest dreams through incremental steps
6. What you hate shapes your character as a leader, so choose wisely
7. Forget fairness; give back more than you receive
8. Stop telling self-aggrandizing stories; practice humility instead
9. Don’t let your fear of others’ reactions control you
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Successful leaders overcome aspects of their lives that make them feel negative, which can include those that are:
“Hope means investing time and energy toward results that you have solid reason to believe can be achieved.”
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Psychologist Kurt Lewin developed his framework in the 1930s, and it provided the foundation of many of the approaches that followed afterwards
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"Leadership is not about being the best. It is about making everyone else better."
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To be a stronger leader, you need to practice self-confidence. If you’re always second-guessing yourself and feeling shy around your coworkers, they won’t follow you.
Confident leaders have a strong sense of self and rarely express self-doubt. They understand who they are and are comfortable in their own skin. Charismatic leaders are also optimists. They see the glass as half full instead of half empty and are always looking on the bright side.
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Many companies understand the importance of developing leadership skills but do not quantify the value of their investment.
Evaluation of leadership development can include:
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The idea that teaching and leadership must have ethical and moral purposes should be a key consideration for educational leaders and they need to challenge unethical and immoral policies and practices wherever they find them.
Courageous, ethical and authentic leadership action is called for.
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Focuses on fast decision making, short-term goals, and the empowerment of individuals.
And it has expanded to include general leadership skills like acting on a shared vision, leading change, and sharing decision-making.
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Agile leaders are servant leaders.
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It's a servant leadership model taught by The Ken Blanchard Companies, based on the belief that leadership style should be tailored to the situation.
This kind of flexibility is a key principle of agile organizations.
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It is difficult to define the quality of a leader. To say that a leader is someone who has followers is too simple. A captain may have soldiers who follow orders, but it makes a captain a commander, not a leader. To say that leadership is influence is too reduced. A robber with a gun has "influence" over his victim, but the source of influence is missing.
It is easier to assert what leadership is not: Its not fancy titles, a position in hierarchy, or even management.
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Theodore Roosevelt's learning of management difficulties stand out in this matter, and from his behavior we can learn that:
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Popularly known as LBJ, Lyndon B. Johnson was the 36th President of the United States, taking office after John Kennedy's death.
Born in 1908, with a simple family, LBJ graduated from Texas State University and Georgetown University, working independently while at school, where he developed several characteristics such as his ability to persuade.
Lyndon Johnson was a professor and entered politics in 1937 as a member of the House of Representatives. Later, he was chosen senator and in 1961 assumed the vice-presidency of the Kennedy's Government.
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Managing one’s boss can be a challenge, and most people have problems and frustrations with their superiors.
Working optimally with your boss means trying to produce the best possible results in an organization, keeping your stress levels low and increasing your happiness. It helps to have clarity about your options, keeping your sanity and focusing on what you can control.
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Jocko Willinck’s idea of Extreme Ownership says in every situation, rather than choose to be a victim and blame others for your suffering, you decide to take responsibility for whatever happens to you.
Even you think that the odds were stacked against you, that you were objectively a victim and suffered unnecessary consequences, you must train yourself to think about what you could have done better to possibly prevent a specific incident from happening.
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Leader should always have agililty which enables them to make quick decision under uncertain circumstances.
The future of work will always be uncertain and ambiguous. Future events will bring new challenges. Organizations now will only thrive in the future under the supervision of leaders who can make sense of uncertainty.
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Researchers have studied managerial derailment — or the dark side of leadership — for many years. The key derailment characteristics of bad managers are well documented and fall into three broad behavioral categories:
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Leadership isn't about the position you hold or the authority you command; it doesn't matter if you're a manager, a CEO, or the president. It's about leadership qualities and leadership skills you can develop in any role you take on in life.
You can be a leader in whichever role you're in and whichever context: Home, school, work, or community.
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You'll need to have more than a LinkedIn profile to become a thought leader. You'll need to have proven your experience and understanding in a field in tangible ways to show to others that you are a voice to listen to.
You don't have to be Steve Jobs to become a thought leader. You can start researching and developing yourself in your current field. You can start writing articles and sharing them with others to get opinions, build a following on social media, and slowly begin proving yourself as an expert in your field.
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These type of leaders ensure that they are the ones to impose expectations and define outcomes. Although it is efficient there are some disadvantages:
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Good leaders can build you up or drag you down. At work, leaders can make the difference between a good job or a lousy job.
That is why leadership is considered an art form. Leadership is not something everyone can do well, and it takes practice to create an atmosphere where people are inspired to do their best work.
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The traditional model of the leader-hero who saves the day knows it all, is the smartest person in the room, and is too often driven by power, fame, glory, or money is not appropriate in today’s environment.
People today expect a different kind of leader. Here are five attributes that characterizes leaders who are able to unleash the kind of human magic you see at work at some of the most high-performing companies.
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Leadership failures in government, business, and nonprofits have created a demand for leadership studies and literature.
Unfortunately, these materials describe unreachable ideals that are far removed from organizational reality, and therefore useless in practice.
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“The most fundamental and important truth at the heart of Extreme Ownership: there are no bad teams, only bad leaders.” - Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, Extreme Ownership
You can only lead by example. There’s no other effective way to inspire people.
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Abraham Lincoln, assumed the 16th President of the United States on March 4, 1861.
Lincoln had a simple origin and had to leave his studies to work in the farm with his father. But in his eagerness to learn, he became self-taught and had to study on his own.
Thus, he became a lawyer, a Federal Deputy, took part in the founding of the Republican Party and was elected President.
In early days as a politician, his tactic was simply to observe and understand how the dynamics of the assembly worked.
However, he had his term finished early when he was assassinated in 1865 while watching a theater play.
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True leadership doesn't happen when we're in charge; it happens when we take care of those in our charge.
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People need to be valued. Great leaders make people feel that they are at the heart, that they're part of making things happen.
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"True leaders understand that their responsibility is to take care of their people, just like a parent: to see them gain skills, to put them in situations where they get to discover more than they though they were capable of."
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Place a higher value on team spirit than achievement. When you concentrate on spirit, you gain long-term success.
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In order to build and lead a great team, you have to be the kind of person that people want to build with.
What does that look like? It looks like centring your humanity and core values by remembering at the end of the day that we all want to live a creative life that we control. Entrepreneurship is just the tool we use to do it.
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Of all of these traits, humility is the most essential and rare. Leaders who embody it get vulnerable with their people, admit their mistakes and learn from them. They're able to contain their egos and think in terms of "we."
Because they are secure in themselves and have human fallibility, they are able to freely share their power. This makes them much more influential as a result. True humility empowers others.
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If you take care of your people, your people will take care of you.
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Five key elements of optimum leadership in healthcare settings:
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An oversimplified understanding of what it means to be transparent can prevent your growth and limit your influence. When we feel out of our comfort zone, we can often use authenticity as an excuse for sticking with what's comfortable.
For example, a promotion into a leadership role can leave you feeling unsure of yourself. If you believe in superficial transparency, you may disclose all your insecurities to your company, and in the process, lose credibility with people.
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Successful leaders don’t take careless risks; they take risks thoughtfully, diligently and cautiously
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These type of leaders take a democratic approach. The essence is to involve team members in all decisions.
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These type of leaders transfer something in exchange for their employees work. That could be extra money or an employee benefit.
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These type of leaders present a vision to their followers and encourage them to achieve it. They also serve as a role model.
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Not every leader is benevolent. Many leaders have insight, initiative, influence, and impact but their lives and legacies are tainted by a lack of integrity.
A great leader must have a life integrated with the highest values so the impact of his/her leadership is positive.
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Leaderships is one of the most misunderstood responsibilities in business.
Many people confuse leadership with rank or authority.
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From Lyndon Johnson's visionary leadership, we can mention some factors that stand out:
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There's no shortage of remarkable ideas; what's missing is the will to execute them.
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Being a member of a wealthy family, he had a privileged education, graduating from Harvard and Columbia University. When he was 25, he outlined a 4-step plan so he could become President of the United States.
This way, at just 31 years old, he had already completed the first two steps. He was Senator in New York and later Secretary of the Navy. Franklin still tried the election as Vice President, but was defeated.
In 1928, he reached the third step: to be governor of New York. This achievement allowed him to reach the top of his planning in 1932, becoming the 32nd President of the United States.
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Successful leadership starts with an attitude of providing service to the goals and dreams of customers and colleagues.
The goal of servant leadership is to lead with integrity, honesty, and professionalism at all times.
Workers who have "buy in" often deliver quality products, as well as customers who become highly devoted.
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Instead of being a dictator and employees followers, a true servant leader serves the employees as well.
A leader makes sure each team member has the resources and support necessary to learn and grow.
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When done right, it brings impressive business outcomes. However, according to McKinsey, 70% of all digital transformation initiatives do not reach their goals.
Most leaders know that tech is essential to business but don't know what they really need to know about technology to succeed in the digital age.
Leaders don't need to learn code to succeed. Instead, they need to learn how to work with people who code. It means becoming a digital collaborator and learning how to work with developers, data scientists, user experience designers and product managers.
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Talking excessively does not make you a leader.
Telling people what to do does not make you a leader.
Inspiring through your actions and taking care of those around you makes you a leader.
Being silent is just as important as communicating.
Leadership is about listening and formulating a strategy for your team after everyone has shared their knowledge and opinions.
Leaders eat last.
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Great leaders have a clear, exciting idea of where they are going. They are excellent at strategic planning.
While a manager gets the job done, great leaders tap into the emotions of their employees.
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“Courage is rightly considered the foremost of the virtues, for upon it, all others depend.”
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“Good business leaders create a vision, articulate the vision, passionately own the vision, and relentlessly drive it to completion.”
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Without the benefit of an external perspective we get from experimenting with new leadership behaviours, habitual patterns of thought fence us in.
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Leadership theories try to explain how and why certain people become leaders. Some theories focus on leaders' characteristics, while others attempt to identify behaviours that people can adopt.
Previously, debates on the psychology of leadership suggested that these were inherent skills. However, recent theories propose that while certain traits may help natural leaders, experience and situational variables also play a vital role.
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The role of a leader is not to come up with all the great ideas. The role of a leader is to create an environment in which great ideas can happen.
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Leadership development is viewed as a current and future priority. Despite efforts to produce and nurture new leaders, only 7 percent of senior managers think that their companies develop global leaders effectively. Around 30 percent of US companies admit that they lack enough leaders with the right capabilities.
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When we get busy, we often overlook the subtle shifts in ourselves. Or we become so focused on the work that we don't realise when we move away from what we truly value.
Being the best leaders we can be require us to identify our values and then live and lead according to them. When you understand what is important to you, what energizes you, what you believe in, and where you want to be, you can make decisions confidently.
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Is a leadership philosophy that is built on the belief that the most effective leaders strive to serve others, rather than accrue power or take control.
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Learn to listen.
As young people, you want to be the top dog, you want to lead.
Learn to understand, you may not have the qualities, knowledge, skills and experience as to someone who is older and has experience.
Use this time to step back, LISTEN, LEARN and GROW your skills for the future to have effective leadership skills.
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A great leader recognizes that trust, transparency, inclusivity, and respect are essential pillars upon which a vibrant company culture is built.
They understand that it’s not enough to build culture, it needs to be protected and maintained. A great leader also needs to make difficult decisions and hold everyone, including themselves, accountable.
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Great leaders are shaped by crises and challenges. And Lincoln went through adversities from his poor childhood to episodes of deep depression.
During the civil war, he needed to unite a divided country, because the South wanted the separation of the North. And allied to this, the issue of slavery was an emerging problem.
That is why, it was up to Lincoln to lead the nation toward peace and unification and articulate in government how to secure the freedom of slaves by abolishing slavery. And such a transformation has brought learning as we shall see now.
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7 min read
Learning comes in all colors, shapes, and sizes. When most of us think about learning, our minds go to a formal classroom in a college or university with a professor dictating what we need to know to pass the next exam. For many of us, learning was solely about getting a good grade. While a formal education is undoubtedly one way to gain knowledge, plenty of other methods exist, especially after your academic days have passed. One of them is vicarious learning. One could say it’s learning via osmosis, but that’s only a slim definition. Osmosis doesn’t require us to do anything, but vicarious learning does. So, what is vicarious learning?
6 min read
Learning should be a lifelong process not limited to pursuing university degrees or obtaining certifications. Many adults are busy with their careers and family obligations and feel they don't have the time to invest in studying a subject they're interested in, but this is simply untrue. Learning doesn't need to be seen as a time-consuming chore or one with a set start and finish. Spending hours intensely studying isn't the only way to increase your knowledge; this is where learning nuggets come into play.
7 min read
Most of us are guilty of falling into the rabbit hole of endless scrolling on our smartphones, tablets, and laptops. Looking for that next blast of dopamine, we’ve become conditioned to the mindless routine of searching for quick entertainment. While some of us are merely killing time (or wasting it), others are looking for information. Micro content can be very beneficial when looking to increase your knowledge.
10 min read
The concept of continuous learning may seem silly and obvious. Doesn’t everyone learn daily in school, at work, or in everyday life? Unfortunately, for some, this isn’t true. The definition of continuous learning can be broad, far-reaching, and sometimes hyperfocused. So, you may ask, what is continuous learning?
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