I would only add that leadership is not learned in the classroom but on-the-job with the guidance of a mentor or coach. Leadership is a contact sport: a series of interactive conversation that pulls people toward becoming comfortable with the language of personal responsibility and commitment.

The sustainable success of leadership development results not from ongoing contact between the coach and coachee, but rather from continuing dialogue among the individuals trying to make changes and their trusted change partners or peers. On a regular basis, these developing leaders ask for feedback on how they are progressing on their targeted behaviors.

Leaders who ask for input and then follow up to see if progress is being made are viewed as people who care, studies reveal. Coworkers who don’t respond to feedback are considered to be uncaring.

“The leader of the past was a person who knew how to tell. The leader of the future will be a person who knows how to ask,” noted Peter Drucker in a classic statement. Colleagues believe leaders who ask for input increase their effectiveness.