Being a leader is a remarkable opportunity to make a difference. But effective leadership doesn’t just arrive with the role. In fact, aspects of being a leader can be as terrifying and stomach-churning as the twists and turns on a rollercoaster.

That’s why leadership coach Kylee Stone begins the Emerging Leadership Program with a module on developing a meaningful connection to your vision and values. We summarise module one below.

What is the Emerging Leaders Program?

The program is for emerging leaders, high potentials, early- to mid-career professionals, and early stage entrepreneurs.

It is a live virtual program of 90 minute sessions that run over a number of weeks, and includes membership of Growth Faculty (This gives all participants automatic access to live virtual events from Growth Faculty’s members’ program ).

Facilitator is leadership coach and CEO of The Performance Code Kylee Stone (see bio at the end of this article).

Discover the leader within you

To discover the leader within, Kylee asked delegates to write down their thoughts, feelings, and images that come to mind when asked questions like:

• What are you aiming to achieve as a leader?
• Why is being a leader important to you?
• What are the strengths that you want to contribute to the world?

When asked to think of leaders they admired, participants shared names like Australian test cricket captain Patrick Cummins, former NZ prime minister Jacinda Ardern, singers/philanthropists Taylor Swift and Dolly Parton, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and former and current U.S. presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump as well as less well-known people like the participant's previous line manager or general manager or mentor, their parents, and even their mum's ex-boss!

Qualities or values exhibited by each of these leaders were described, and ranged from quiet confidence, purpose, strong direction, clarity in uncertainty, being authentic, fair, decisive, ability to navigate complexity, genuine care for their people, steadfastness, communication skills, equitable, and the ability to harness the best of everyone.

Free Download: 10 Leadership Qualities That Will Help Solve Challenges

Kylee says leadership is about focusing on others. Nevertheless, it begins with going deep inside yourself. Kylee told participants to look at leadership "more like a discovery." As a leader the question we should be asking ourselves is “Who do I need to discover?”

This starts with RESET, REFOCUS, REIMAGINE

Myths of leadership

Kylee says myths around leaders and leadership persist.

She listed out common myths and what she sees as the reality.

• MYTH : Leaders are born, not made. REALITY: Good leadership can be taught
• MYTH : Leaders should have the answers. REALITY: Leadership is a team sport
• MYTH : Leadership belongs to those in a position of power. REALITY: You don’t gain respect and trust because you’re the boss. You gain it from communication and being a great role model

Leader versus leadership

Kylee told delegates that a leader is an individual perceived to have a legitimate position of power or influence, someone who others follow, who may have been assigned, delegated, or emerged as a leader (selected by a group or a panel), or someone who demonstrated leadership qualities (the focus is on you).

Leadership is the action of influencing others toward a desired outcome, no formal position, a movement with an influencer, leaders and a goal, focus on others.

Delegates shared examples of leadership values: transparency, connection, loyalty, trust and respect, courage, humility, 110% accountability, friendly to all incl. junior staff, everyone is heard, respect, drive, compassion, treating everyone with consistency, showing vulnerability, integrity.

Leadership lessons from the ‘dancing guy’

In the YouTube video Leadership Lessons From The Dancing Guy delegates learned the importance of embracing ‘first followers’ as equals. The first man dancing looks like “the lone nut” until he embraces a first follower as an equal. The follower encourages others to join in. In this way he ignites a spark. The dancing is not longer a risky move, and more people get up to dance. A movement is created.

“The sign of a good leader is not how many followers you have but how many leaders you create.” – Gandhi.

Foundations of leadership

Kylee says leadership is also like an iceberg. What you say and do (the tip of the iceberg visible to all) is supported (below the waterline) by the foundations of:

• Purpose – Vision, Values, Mission, Purpose
• Strategic Alignment (how to get to where you want to go) – Strategy, Planning, Execution, The A-Game
• Resilience – Mindset, Mindfulness, Agility (EQ), Resilience (RQ)
• Communication – Storytelling, Listening, Collaboration, Mentoring

Each of these foundational skills will be explored in the Emerging Leaders Program over the following weeks.

Being clear about your values

Being clear about your values is important for creating a long-lasting, resilient vision of where you want to get to in the future. Your values might include: Fun, teamwork, independence, innovation, equality, family, truth, sincerity, balance, warmth, competence, consistence, discipline, persistence, or respect. There are endless values to choose from, but only some will sing to you as your foundational values.

To help discover your values ask yourself:

• What are you grateful for?
• What are you proud of?
• What values do you expect to see at work?

Values you expect to see at work might include: Empathy, a clear purpose, respect, professionalism, inclusivity, learning, kindness, commitment, clear communication, honesty, transparency, trustworthiness.

You might be grateful for a great work culture: Honest, fun and hardworking, inclusive, open, positive, motivated, collaborative, growth, all hands-on-deck, fun, no silos, challenging while supportive, no backstabbing, one team, safe, a learning culture, empowered , and innovative.

You might be proud of your: Passion and energy, flexibility, assertiveness, enthusiasm, keeping your word, integrity, ability to be humble, patient, and friendly, positivity, mentoring, lifting others up, and encouraging words spoken to others.

Creating a Vision

Kylee told delegates that vision is: A view of the world, motivates you towards something important, guides decision making, helps you communicate what you care about, keeps things in perspective .

An exercise that helps when creating your vision is to close your eyes and imagine you are standing in the future one year from today celebrating your accomplishments, and feeling a sense of clarity and purpose in how you led others.

Delegates were asked to note feelings, thoughts and images as they contemplated the following questions:

• What has changed because of your leadership?
• What does success look like for you?
• What do you love? What are you really passionate about?

You could, for example, describe a future where the team was happier, others had grown into leaders, there was more cohesion, people were better trained, there was better staff and client satisfaction, self and team growth, more connection, clear alignment on the mission, joy, thriving, an approachable team environment, people were heard, working respectfully together, and family and work colleagues were benefitting.

Writing a vision statement

A vision statement is an inspiring, aspirational, and imagined future state. It is you way of painting a picture of how the world will be different once the vision is achieved.

Kylee shared examples of:

• IKEA: Our vision is to create a better everyday life for many people.
• APPLE: To make the best products on earth and to leave the world better than we found it.

Kylee says to write a vision statement it helps to start with phrases like “A world where……”, “We have created….”, “To be…..”, “We are…….”, “The world has…….” or “We have……..”

Your vision should aim to solve big problems , make a difference , unleash human potential , improve the world , impact climate change (or some other cause).

And, for the record, Growth Faculty’s vision is “A place to access brilliant ideas for inspired leadership.”

The next module in the Emerging Leaders Program focuses on strategic alignment and resilience.

When we approach professional development as a collaborative activity rather than a solo pursuit, we don't just build knowledge—we build stronger teams.

Our live learning sessions are designed with these principles at heart. They're not just about delivering information; they're about creating spaces where teams can discover together, challenge each other, and build the shared understanding that drives real innovation.

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