Coaching executives and aspiring leaders across many roles, industries and geographies over many years, I’ve prepped for you a quick-hit list of 15 exercises to help build your leadership muscles. For each one, take a look in the mirror of how you handle it now, what’s working, and what you want to to enhance through practice. Then go for it!

1. Make sure everyone in your enterprise knows where you are all heading, has a simple road map to get there, and “gets” why your goal(s) and direction are so important to you. If your people are vague on any of these elements, they are less likely to be at their best.

2. Value and reward your people’s excellence executing and delivering results AND their excellence collaborating with colleagues and “having each others’ backs.” Expecting and rewarding both results and relationships makes a more sustainable organization.

3. Measure, monitor, and decrease continuously the amount of resistance (time, steps, and non-value-added activities needed) to implement a good idea. This “drag coefficient” exists in all organizations of two or more people, and lessening it is an ongoing way to maintain a strong flow of good leadership.

4. Delegating with context and clear expectations makes you and your team scalable. If you’re a founder, perfectionist or do-it-yourselfer, it’s key to work extra hard to guide others to do their best for you, rather than do things your way (or worse) yourself.

5. Give all reasonable feedback, candor, suggestions, and support to your people to help them succeed. With that, when someone continues to underperform, it’s important to help them move on. Hanging on for too long is a common and avoidable leadership error.

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