L.E.A.D. Framework
Adopt these 8 habits to become an outstanding LEADer… one who people follow with excitement
I’ve been training and coaching leaders for over a decade.
After all this time, I’ve realized that the most effective leaders all act in similar ways which drive impactful results.
I’ve collected these actions into what I call the L.E.A.D. framework:
LOOK + LEAP
Generate a compelling long-term vision of how you want the world to look in t4he future + jump into the unknown, making it safe for others to do the same.
Excite + Empower
Connect everyone’s work to that grander vision, adding purpose to every day + provide the support which makes success inevitable.
ALIGN + ACTIVATE
Get colleagues on the same page about what needs to be done + motivate your partners to actively move those ideas forward.
DECIDE + DEPUTIZE
Kill ambiguity by clearly communicating your decisions and thought processes + share that responsibility with trusted members of your team.
Some of the above may feel routine, but it’s rare to be confident in all of the skills. Everyone has gaps to work on. The most successful leaders are always improving their craft and actively developing their ranks to take the helm.
The L.E.A.D. framework gives you and your team the foundation needed to excel in any leadership position. Regardless of how far along you are in your leadership journey, mastering these skills will elevate you as a leader who can also coach others to reach their potential.
Ready to get started? Let’s… look towards the future 😉
L - Look + Leap
Any strong leader has a clear vision of the future they want to create.
As a leader in tech, your responsibilities include challenging the status quo, adopting a growth mindset, and thinking about how your team, company, and market will change the world over time.
Great leaders don’t just set goals, they tell a story about why those goals matter to the people they impact. This shows their teams and peers what success looks like and why it’s worth pursuing it together.
Think of visionary leaders like Martin Luther King. Passionate about his vision, he used stories to inspire change. He didn’t just say, “we want equality.” Instead, he painted a vivid picture of children holding hands in a world where everyone is treated fairly. That’s the power of looking towards the future: it sparks action because people feel emotionally connected.
Most historical figures regarded as great leaders were visionaries. They didn’t let circumstances stop them. Instead, they created a vision of an idealized future and shared it with others to inspire them and instigate them to action. They recognized that BIG changes can only happen when many people band together with a common vision for a better future.
Vision alone isn’t enough.
As a leader, you also have to pave the way for others, by leaping first. This creates momentum and shows others that movement is possible even when certainty is not. Leap, and show everyone around you that the future is not only possible, it’s already in motion.
Here’s how you can cultivate the habit of looking toward the future:
Challenge the status quo by asking, “What would ideal look like?”
Tell stories about people who benefit from the changes you desire
Share a clear, customer centric, compelling vision of the future
Food for thought: Are you sharing a vision that resonates deeply with your team, or are you just setting tasks? Does your team understand the potential impact of their work on real people? How can you encourage them to fall in love with your vision of the future?
E - Excite + Empower
It’s not enough to have a vision of the future, you also need to empower the people around you to take actions that get you closer to making that vision a reality. Ways to achieve this include empathy, communication, feedback, autonomy, and empowering others with the right tools and guidance to succeed.
Remember that empowerment goes both ways, and it’s about creating an environment where everyone has the necessary tools to succeed.
Great leaders provide the structure that makes success feel inevitable. Creating systems of support, whether it’s regular check-ins, shared resources, or documented decision-making processes, removes friction and allows your team to perform at their best.
Here’s how you can excite and empower others:
Listen and use empathy to understand your team’s needs
Provide tools, guidance, and actionable feedback
Communicate in a way that is clear, concise, and direct
Food for thought: Think about the last time you gave feedback or asked for support. Was it specific and actionable? Recently, I was interviewed by Kim Rittberg for Fast Company about how to avoid harmful feedback, and how to provide actionable, constructive comments instead - read more here. Does your team have the tools and training they need to achieve the goals set for them? If not, let’s talk.
A - Align + Activate
Leadership isn’t a solo act, you need to collaborate with OTHER leaders to get things done.
Alignment is key, and that means getting the right people on the same page, clarifying priorities, timelines, tradeoffs, and shared outcomes. It’s the groundwork that ensures everyone is rowing in the same direction, and the foundation for you to activate your supporters afterwards.
Once everyone is aligned, it’s time to activate your supporters.
The best leaders I know do this by making it easy for other people to support their ideas. Similarly to what you do within yout team, start by developing empathy for what other leaders have as goals and what drives them. Then, build mutually beneficial relationships strategically where you don’t only take but often provide assistance, generating a social debt to be repaid later. This may seem like playing internal politics, and that is true, but it doesn’t have to be dirty.
When the time comes to generate vocal support for an initiative you are trying to move forward, you can leverage that understanding of your peers’ incentives and cash in your earned social capital. Remember not to waste your energy trying to convert your opposition, focus on engaging the “swing voters”, those who are open to persuasion. As a leader, your “swing voters” are the colleagues who need some nudging to see why your idea is beneficial to them too.
Here’s how you can align and activate your supporters:
Make it easy for people to support you with clear communication and follow-ups
Build trust and executive presence to inspire confidence
Focus your energy on your “swing voters”, not the opposition
Food for thought: Who on your level or one level up should you build stronger ties with for future alliances? Who are your “swing voters”, colleagues or stakeholders who could be key allies? How can you bring them closer to your vision?
D - Decide + Deputize
The D in the L.E.A.D. framework is all about making decisions effectively.
As a leader, you’ll often need to kill bad ideas, reduce ambiguity, and prioritize speed over perfection. Leaders inspire trust and confidence because they show their team what being decisive looks like.
Making choices also requires you to communicate your thought process at a high level, explain why a particular direction was chosen, and what the expected outcomes are. This not only sets an example for your team but also empowers them to make their own decisions with a similar mindset.
The next and final step is to deputize.
That means building a network of trusted team members who can act on your behalf, even when you're not in the room. Deputizing is more than delegating tasks; it’s about creating true ownership. When people understand your principles and priorities, they can make aligned decisions autonomously.
Here’s how you can improve your decision-making skills and deputize other people:
Kill ambiguity by clearly defining the problem and the desired outcome
Share your decision-making process to inspire confidence and transparency
Be willing to delegate responsibility and trust your team to execute
Food for thought: Think about a recent decision you made at work. How long did it take to make a choice? Did you communicate it clearly and thoughtfully? How can you improve your decision-making process?
Conclusion
The eight actions in the L.E.A.D. framework are not separate concepts. When you apply them together consistently, you create a ripple effect: stronger alignment, faster progress, and a team that trusts you to lead even when things get messy.
Great leaders aren’t born with these habits, they build them.
So the question is not: are you a natural leader?
The real question is: are you practicing the habits that strong leadership requires?
It turns out that I’ve been talking about L.E.A.D.ership topics for A LONG time… so I’ve now organized all of my previous posts by their theme. Check it out.