How do you respond to changing conditions and requirements? Are you more likely to plant your feet firmly, to move cautiously, or to leap for the stars? Your response provides insight to how you lead in a world were change is both natural and unrelenting.

Leadership flexibility is influenced by demands for decisiveness. Most want leaders to be sort through alternatives, to make a decision, and to move the group forward to better places. Constant demands for success frustrate learning and diminish flexibility. If the only posture is the success stance, individuals risk failure in dynamic environments.

Successful leaders distinguish themselves from others with a strong sense of self-worth. While all are influenced by others' opinions and ideas of achievement, self-worth drives achievement. The effective development of self-worth facilitates a leader's capacity for flexibility. An informed sense of self prompts thoughtful consideration of alternatives and informs decision-making.

Leadership occurs flexibly when an individual's inner-compass assists in the navigation through periods of both calm and turbulence. In calm periods, flexibility fosters openness to new ideas and approaches. In turbulent times, flexibility strengthens assessment and guides action. Increasing flexibility engenders success in leadership. What are you doing to enhance your flexibility?

Slight changes in perspective can be relationship-altering! If you engage in these or similar behaviors, you create a draining and negative connection:

• distancing yourself from other because of position
• considering others as elements of production
• failing to disclose appropriately, or
• acting capriciously

Successful leaders create highly charged connections with others. These charged connections stimulate task accomplishment and foster friendship - two elements most leaders desire in relationships. Memorable leaders distinguish themselves from managers because they connect personally and professionally.

Develop your ability to connect with others by sharing your life experiences because it is all about organizational effectiveness. The ability to connect prompts effort and creates possibilities for achievement. Failures to connect result in mindlessness and numbing organizational experiences; fatigue is inevitable.

Successful connections require the ability to let go of old scores and the need to one-up others. A sure-fire way to develop abilities to connect is to work on increasing self-acceptance. Begin with the goal of increasing self-acceptance through reflection and feedback. Advance your connective ability by letting others into your story. Master the ability to connect by listening when others invite you into their experience. Are you ready for high-energy connections?

Career development implies, by definition, a goal-oriented approach. Career development differs from career planning; the former focuses on goal accomplishment while the later creates focus on job choices and occupations. Within organizations, leaders develop because of their goal-orientations. Those responsible for leader development - leadership developers -- excel in their ability to help others to achieve their goals. Helping, however, is not a frequently recognized organizational achievement.

If you are a leader developer, how do you feel about being on the sidelines? Are you able - or ready - to cheer from the top of your lungs? Can you console and share disappointment? Positive responses to these few questions may position you to advance to greatness in leader development. These, and other selfless acts of leader development, receive little attention because of over-programming demanded by the show-me mentality of many organizational managers.

The task is not to create one memorable experience over another memorable experience. A task in leader development is to create environments that foster learning-driven contribution. This task is accomplished by the absence of program-pushing and the delivery of experience-pulling. Today, a body of well-established helping practices exists to facilitate experience-pulling; often, these practices are diminished by short-term requirements. Strive for balance in meeting short-term needs with the longer-term act of helping developing leaders.

For some, helping is a foreign word in organizations. Helping is disguised, clinically, as assisting. You can honor "helping" in your organization through acts of grace, honesty, and kindness. The reward for helping may not show up in the transitory performance evaluation but in lifetime achievement. Helping is a worthy professional pursuit.

Emerson wrote, "Make the most of yourself, for that is all there is of you." Extend Emerson's consideration by extending leadership to destinations beyond organizational borders. Acts of leadership contributions to community groups, national helping organizations, and world-service agencies contribute to self-development.

Many actions contribute to extending leadership to spaces outside of your organizational context. Here are a few entry-points:

• Start by inviting others "in." If you can't leave your organization, invite others from different walks of life into your organization.
• Begin by thinking expansively and then apply your leadership talent to local problems. Resist the temptation to avoid personal identification to local concerns and issues - whether in your family or in your neighborhood. Take a stand.
• Jump-start your action by scheduling time on your calendar. Calendars are a tool for honesty.
• If you're pressed for discretionary time, write a letter or send an email that expresses your opinion on an issue that affects your community. Take pleasure in knowing that you contributed to an effort in some way, regardless of the magnitude of the contribution.

Leaders are regularly urged to make a difference within their organizations. With minimal effort, it's possible to extend the investment of leadership development to society. Don't wait and avoid guilt relative to service. Many opportunities exist for short-term service and few are willing to accept leadership currency. Spread the returns of your leadership investment.

In our May teleconference, we discuss leadership toxicity. Examples abound of toxicity in organizational leadership. Selflessness is a key prevention tactic for leadership toxicity. Join us, or purchase a recording of the conference, to contribute to the body of knowledge and experience in developing leaders of service.