As this year winds down, have you paused to celebrate how far you’ve come and what you’ve learned along the way?

Reflection is a cornerstone of effective leadership. It gives us the chance to celebrate successes, express gratitude, learn from challenges, and chart a course for the future.

In fall of 2004, I returned to teaching after maternity leave. I had secured a dayhome and done the transition with my one year old. A few weeks into my return, my dayhome operator informed me that she was closing in one week.

Exploring the question, "What defines a great leader?" uncovers a wealth of insights, which can be daunting to sift through.

Leadership, a multifaceted realm, often lacks explicit instruction, leaving novices and those seeking skill enhancement inundated with information and advice.

How well do you delegate? Are you willing to let other people do things, or do you hold everything hold everything close to the chest?

We hear a lot about the importance of values in a workplace, and there are many organizations who have declared their core values but are they actually part of the culture or are they just posters on the wall.

What makes a great leader? That’s the million dollar question without a clear-cut, simple, do this and you’ll rock answer. Ask a group of people and you are likely to get a ton of different answers, but I do think there are a few core skills that great leaders have in common.

I’m often asked how to become a leader. It’s a huge question without a straight-forward, linear, follow these steps answer. But there are key skills and concepts which I believe contribute to being an effective leader.

For years, I’ve known about the importance of values. I had a loose idea of mine swirling around in my head, but I hadn’t clearly defined them. A couple of years ago, I spent time narrowing them down, and digging in so I could articulate them.

Last week I was excited to take Brené Brown’s Dare to Lead course. It was a long, but amazing, three days and I learned so much. Kim Knull facilitated a fabulous, but intensive workshop.

I have read many leadership books, but I think one of my favorites is still The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni. I have read many of his books and they’re all great, but this one distills down characteristics of great teams.