Welcome to For Leaders, your go-to source for essential leadership insights and perspectives shaping today's world.

In this week’s newsletter:

• Strategic Summaries: Key insights and takeaways on the importance of resourcefulness for effective leadership

• The For Leaders Podcast: Avature CEO Dimitri Boylan

• Words of Wisdom: A powerful leadership quote to inspire

• Leaders’ Library: What we’re reading this week

A curated community of leaders.

Strategic Summaries

A weekly roundup of the most interesting, useful and thought-provoking articles to help you be a better leader. This week we’re focusing on resourcefulness.

A competitive edge. This article advocates for resourcefulness as a key quality for effective leadership.

Our take: Resourcefulness is something leaders rely on every day. It’s essential in times of uncertainty, in fast-paced environments, and especially when resources are limited.

It shows up when a tight budget needs to be stretched, a team’s talents need to be optimized, and goals need to be achieved without excessive spending.

A resourceful leader proactively shapes the outcome of difficult or quickly-changing situations, rather than merely reacting to events. 

Key takeaway: The impact of this skill goes beyond individual benefits: resourceful leaders give their companies a competitive edge by staying on top of changing market conditions with creative solutions.

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Focus on the upside. Forbes explores how resourceful leaders think differently.

Our take: While it may sound like positive psychology, there is a quality found in resourceful leaders that allows them to relentlessly focus on the upside of any situation.

It’s not simply about being positive but about having the skill and self-awareness to transition from crisis control to creative problem solver. 

This means transforming a problem into an opportunity to learn – and then coming up with a solution that isn’t obvious on the surface.

Key takeaway: By learning to fast forward past self doubt, leaders who harness resourcefulness have an “I’m going to figure this out” attitude, making them an inspiring force for their team to follow.

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What it looks like. Indeed breaks down what makes someone resourceful, how you can improve in this area, and how you can recognize it when searching for talent.

Our take: Resourcefulness can be broken down into six aspects: adaptability, coordination, creativity, initiative, patience, and persistence.

You can build these in three ways. First, be receptive. Creative solutions can only emerge when you give your brain ample (and sometimes contradictory) options to work through.

Secondly, learn from others. Ask for feedback and be open to advice. Thirdly, analyze your performance. Don’t be afraid to see your own strengths and weaknesses in order to honestly make improvements.  

Key takeaway: Being a resourceful leader is having the courage to be self aware, being open and willing to change, and having an attitude that you will persevere until the job is done. 

🎧 For Leaders: Avature CEO Dimitri Boylan

Dimitri Boylan saw impressive success during the dot-com boom in the 90s. He had built the online job recruitment website, HotJobs.com, and sold it to Yahoo! for $433 million in 2002.   

His next venture, talent acquisition company Avature, has taught him many things about effective leadership.

In this episode, Dimitri shares key insights on:

• Treating employees like adults and trusting their capabilities

• Embedding his personal values of integrity and fairness into his business ventures

• The need for a personal and professional ethic framework

Words of Wisdom

One weekly, impactful quote for leaders.

Leaders' Library

Every week, we share an interesting long-form piece of content to contemplate.

Today, we’re watching A CEO’s guide on how to thrive in the changing world featuring Chip Conley.

You may know Conley from his long tenure leading Joie de Vivre Hospitality (now a Hyatt brand), the Modern Elder Academy, or as a former Airbnb executive. He’s an American hospitality entrepreneur who speaks and writes about creating longevity and happiness in business and life.

In this video, Conley emphasizes the importance of continuing to learn, leading with curiosity, and rebelling against convention. He has risen above whatever problems he’s faced with resourcefulness and creativity. 

They called him a Modern Elder at Airbnb, someone who is as curious as they are wise. As he says, “If you are not in a place where you’re ready to bring on new mindsets, then you’re in the process of dying.” It’s a worthwhile and inspiring watch.

Thanks for reading! We’ll see you next week with more powerful leadership insights and inspiration.