I stood in the corridor with a line of guys of a similar age and with similar dreams of a heroic future. First you heard the footsteps, they were loud and assured. Then the shadow appeared on the wall by the doorway, then in front of us was our new Drill Sergeant. In that one moment we all felt the same fear! 

Later I was to meet my section commander, this felt completely different, while he commanded respect he also created confidence in is actions. He inspired, motivated, coached and mentored, to the point that I would follow him anywhere. His leadership skills penetrated so deep that all these years later I still count him as one of the most important people in my life. We don't get to talk much anymore but time has not dulled the loyalty I feel for my leader. 

It was that leadership that taught me the basics and resulted in many other skills such as public speaking, calmness but action in a tight squeeze, resilience and persistence. 

If I tell people I learnt my leadership skills during my army days, that paints for them a very misleading picture. Although I learnt a bit in the army about what being a good leader means, the journey continues for years and I am still learning today. Leadership is not a journey that starts and then ends with you coming out the other end a ready to go leader, it is more a vocation and lifelong lesson in human behaviour. 

When the word leadership is used the picture it paints in your mind is often misleading. If you talk about leadership skills to the sole trader, they might say to themselves, why do I need to worry about that, there is just me! When you talk to the boss running a team they might think, I am doing fine, I don't need any help on this subject...

Those in leadership will tell you a slightly different story, leadership improves relationships, marketing, sales, reputation, brand and much more and so I want to share with you what I have learnt along the way so you can add the lessons to your own leadership journey...