The E's of Leadership

Have you ever noticed how many E-words are used when talking about Leadership skills and traits? Seriously, think about it – there are a TON. If the letters of an alphabet were competing in a Leadership standoff, the E’s would have an Enormous Edge (see what I did there?)  over the others.

There are quite a few E-words used to discuss the outputs and results of a leader’s actions - Execution, engagement, empower, envision to name a few. Most organizations are quick to discuss these as indicators of success, regardless of the role’s seniority. That makes sense as these are incredibly powerful and important leadership indicators. But I challenge that to see consistency around these outputs, we must first focus on the core E’s, or inputs, that build a leader’s foundation. 

When studying Public Administration in my undergrad, we focused a large amount of time discussing what a good public servant leader looks like. The foundation of these at the time was effective, efficient, and equitable.  The reason for this a leader in the public sector needs to be effective within the means of their budget, efficient when using the designated resources they are given, and equitable in how they represent the people they serve.  This logic directly relates to leaders in the private sector, and these three E’s are a great foundational starting point for all early-career leaders.   Two additional E’s fit in well with the inputs to round out the foundational skills: Empathetic and Ethical.

At On deck, we see a good leader as a tree. The roots are the inputs and core foundation of a leader. They are not always seen, but they are felt. Without a strong core, the leader will lack a stable trunk, develop bad habits, and struggle with turbulent issues arise. The outputs are the leaves, and to grow leaves year after year, leaders need to depend on their core to guide them.

We focus on the roots to build a solid core foundation at the beginning of a new leader's journey through an emphasis on our 5 E's:

Efficient. Effective. Empathetic. Equitable. Ethical.