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Leadership Competencies
Leadership competencies without the HR framework — why competency models don't grow leaders, and the behavior-level, feedback-driven version that does.
8 guides · 70 min of reading
"Leadership competencies" is the phrase people search when they want to get better at the job — and the phrase enterprises use to build rating grids that never made anyone a better leader. We keep the word, because it's the one you'll actually look up, and throw out the framework. A competency isn't a box on an HR scorecard; it's a cluster of observable behaviors, and the behaviors are the only part you can see, get feedback on, and change. Written for the individual leader — a manager, founder, or senior contributor — not for an HR team rolling out a model. What to actually develop, and how you'd know it was working.
How they fit together
It starts here, with the case for behaviors over the framework — the lens every other piece here applies, one competency at a time: what it actually looks like in the work, how you'd develop it, and how you'd know you had. Not where it sits on a grid.
Start here
Leadership competencies: behaviors, not a framework — the best place to start. Read it first; the rest extend it.
Everything in this section
- 8 min read
Decision-making as a leadership competency, in behaviors
Every competency model lists 'decision-making' and none of them tell you what it looks like. Here's what to actually watch, and how to find out if yours works.
- 8 min read
Delegation: the leadership competency managers fake
Almost every manager thinks they delegate well. Almost none do. What real delegation looks like in behavior — and how to find out which one you are.
- 8 min read
Emotional intelligence for managers: beyond the buzzword
Emotional intelligence is the vaguest label on any competency model. Break it into behaviors and it stops being a personality trait — and becomes developable.
- 8 min read
Leadership competencies for new managers: first 90 days
New managers get handed a competency checklist and told to develop all of it. The first 90 days is really about three behaviors — and installing one habit.
- 9 min read
Communication as a leadership competency, in behaviors
Communication is the highest-stakes leadership competency and the vaguest — until you break it into behaviors. What it looks like, and whether yours works.
- 10 min read
How to actually develop a leadership competency
You don't build a leadership competency in a workshop — you build it in a loop: see how you actually behave, change one thing, and re-measure. The mechanics.
- 10 min readStart here
Leadership competencies: behaviors, not a framework
Competency models promise a map of good leadership and hand you a checklist nobody acts on. The behavior-level, feedback-driven version that actually grows you.
- 9 min read
A leadership competency self-assessment (with examples)
Self-assessment is where competency work starts — and where it goes wrong most. How to rate your own leadership honestly, with examples, and why it's only half.
Other topics
Reading about feedback won't change you.
Running a round will.
Browse the guides above, then run the round on yourself. Mirorly is the tool every leadership competencies guide here was written for.
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