I am Frodo; I approach this inquiry as a fellow traveler, seeking to grow in my abilities. I have been in the trenches as a worker-bee and middle manager, having experienced leadership on each end of the good/bad spectrum. I have in-turn provided a spectrum to the teams I have led. Having completed some self-awareness work along my journey, I am far more aware of shortcomings than successes. This can be par for the course for a recovering perfectionist. To read how to do it all perfectly, the Amazon business section is chock-a-block of the latest leadership insights.

Take the opportunity to pause and reflect on those times when you led like you intended. You know, living the life your dog believes you live; a hero to the world. We will often skip the celebration, thinking that is for those other people and miss the chance to catalog our strengths. These pauses allow for insight into our talents and leadership styles.

Journalist, Sebastion Junger discusses how the American Indian tribes would choose their leaders based on the environment. They understood that the same leaders are not perfect for all circumstances. A reigning peace-time chief would step aside if the tribe went to war and when the fighting was complete, the war-time chief would relinquish power to a peace-time chief.

This insight may provide great encouragement as you determine where your leadership strengths exist and how they can be employed within an organization. I always wanted to believe that I was the special snowflake that was a great leader in all circumstances. This is not the case.

Insulting a contemporary, Winston Churchill stated, he is "a humble man, who has much to be modest about". This quote helps to keep me grounded and recognize that each of us has a set of strengths that need to be used just like any other specific tool in the tool belt. This realization was liberating as I was viewing leadership as an all or nothing situation. I was wrong. 

What are your leadership strengths? What was a leadership win? What historical leaders are you most alike? What successes surprised you? How do you invest in developing your leadership skills?