In 2011, I was given a tremendous opportunity to participate as one of the instructors for NextGen: Canada, a multifaceted learning and career development program offered in collaboration with the Alberta Museums Association, the Getty Leadership Institute at Claremont Graduate University(GLI@CGU), and the University of Alberta Museums.

This sparked my desire to learn more about leadership, what makes a great leader, and how a person becomes a leader.  Leadership isn’t something I had spent a lot of time thinking about as a discipline, but having been given the opportunity to look at leadership in a different light – teaching is always a wonderful way to deepen the learning experience, I began studying the literature and attempting, in my own way, to better understand and articulate this vast and somewhat nebulous topic.

As a result, I have come across some leadership resources which have really resonated for me and that I would like to share in this blog series.

The first, is Simon Sinek’s Start With Why.  Simon’s Ted Talk is a great place to start and I would recommend both his books Start With Why and Leader’s Eat Last.  What I find compelling about Simon’s message is how understanding WHY unleashes both individual and organizational passion and drives achievement.