Foundational Leadership Habits

Nine practical leadership habits — listening, presence, ownership, clarity, curiosity, and systems thinking. Each habit includes a micro lesson, blind spots, journal prompts, a 5-day habit builder, and post-practice reflections.

What's inside

This collection builds leadership from the inside out through nine specific, observable habits — the kind that change how people experience your leadership in everyday moments. Each habit follows a consistent rhythm designed to move clients from understanding through practice to reflection, including a micro lesson, blind spots, journal prompts, a five-day habit builder, and post-practice reflections.

The nine habits are organised across three themes:

Listening & Presence

Be the Last to Speak — Create space for others to think before sharing your own view.
Set the Emotional Tone — Recognise that your emotional state shapes how your team thinks and performs.
Slow Down When It Matters — Bring your full attention to the moments that carry disproportionate weight.

Ownership & Clarity

Own the Outcome — Take responsibility for what happens on your watch as a mindset that builds trust and agency.
Model What You Expect — Close the gap between your stated values and your visible behaviour.
Clarity Over Comfort — Say what needs to be said, directly and respectfully.

Curiosity & Systems Thinking

Assume Positive Intent — Lead with curiosity instead of accusation.
Use Curiosity, Not Control — Ask better questions instead of giving more direction.
Spot the System, Not Just the Symptom — Look for root causes and patterns, not just surface-level problems.

How to use this collection

As a structured programme, work through one habit per week over nine to eleven weeks. The three thematic groups provide a natural arc: start with how you show up, move to how you take responsibility and communicate, then explore how you think and lead others' thinking.

For targeted coaching, use the baseline assessment to identify which habits are most relevant, then assign those selectively. Each habit is self-contained — clients don't need to complete the full programme to benefit.

As session preparation, assign a micro lesson and journal prompts as pre-work before a coaching session, then assign the habit builder and post-practice reflections for the following week.

Available to registered Coaching Workspace members. You'll be asked to sign in if you're not already.