Learning the Art of Effective Leadership

Effective leaders inspire us. They motivate us. They make us feel like we matter and that our contribution matters. We often see them as super-human visionaries and innovators who possess qualities that we ourselves simply don’t have. The good news however, is that leadership skills are able to be learned and that there are resources and programs designed to help people do just that.

In December of last year, Trinity alumna, Stephanie Lin, came back to share her experience with students participating in our Young Leaders Program. The Program is a short residential course open to students all over the world who are aged between 14 and 17 years. It’s designed to increase confidence, inspire and guide students on their educational pathway.

During the panel discussion, Stephanie commented that for her, a good leader is someone, ‘who can inspire others and is an effective communicator.’

In her opinion, emotional intelligence skills are a must.  ‘It’s not about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about being ‘authentically humble’ and ‘someone others can relate to.’

As someone who has continually sought out opportunities to lead and make a difference, Stephanie was the perfect person to join a panel discussion on the topic of leadership. While in residence at Trinity College, Stephanie was jointly awarded the Louise Gourlay Prize for Social Change. This was for helping to establish a project – ‘Food for thought’ – with St Vincent de Paul Society’s Ozanam House to tackle Melbourne’s homeless and food crisis.

In her current role, Stephanie acts as a Senior Consultant at Deloitte Australia, specialising in organisational transformation and human capital consulting. She describes her role as being ‘a sort of doctor for organisations,’ whereby organisations come to her and her team with problems they’d like fixed. They then go in and make a diagnosis and recommendations for change.

Check out the resources below to find out more about emotional intelligence and how you too can become an effective leader. 

Emotional Intelligence (EQ)

American psychologist, Daniel Goleman brought the idea to prominence with his 1995 book Emotional Intelligence.  It’s based on research that suggests success and leadership depend on much more than one’s IQ.

See:

The Focused Leader, Daniel Goleman https://hbr.org/2013/12/the-focused-leader

Emotional Intelligence Has 12 Elements. Which Do You Need to Work On? Daniel Goleman and Richard E. Boyatzis https://hbr.org/2017/02/emotional-intelligence-has-12-elements-which-do-you-need-to-work-on 

TedTalks

How to start a movement, Derek Sivers “The first follower is what transforms a lone nut into a leader”: https://www.ted.com/talks/derek_sivers_how_to_start_a_movement/transcript?language=en

Why good leaders make you feel safe, Simon Sinek https://www.ted.com/talks/simon_sinek_why_good_leaders_make_you_feel_safe/transcript?language=en

What it takes to be a great leader, Roselinde Torres https://www.ted.com/talks/roselinde_torres_what_it_takes_to_be_a_great_leader/