How to Become a Leader Who Matters

A leader who matters is one who cares enough to champion others, and Dan Pontefract’s nine leadership lessons describe how to become one. The lessons were introduced in his 2020 book Lead. Care. Win. How to Become a Leader Who Matters, a Nautilus Book Awards silver medallist in Business and Leadership.

Every human interaction is crucial. Every exchange can be mutually beneficial. The nine lessons centre on a leader’s willingness to improve how they treat people.

The Nine Leadership Lessons

1. Be Relatable
2. Play for Meaning
3. Stay Present
4. Remain Curious
5. Embrace Change
6. Dare to Share
7. Command Clarity
8. Commit to Balance
9. Champion Others

Together they call for meaningful change: be relatable and empathetic; act not out of ego but out of purpose; stay present and attentive to the needs of others; stay curious and adopt lifelong learning; embrace change and the opportunity for growth it offers; share knowledge to build a wise organization; think and act with clarity; commit to balance and inclusivity in all your dealings; and act with humility and thoughtfulness. The bottom line is that when you care enough to champion others, the workplace becomes happily infectious and the organization benefits in more ways than one.

It’s Time to Care

Lead. Care. Win. is the fourth of Dan’s seven books and the one where his thinking on caring, relationship-based leadership is most concentrated. It is also where he coined the term time adultery for the habit of being physically present but mentally elsewhere, and the line that a leadership role is “a perch, not a perk.”

Bring the Lessons to Your Leaders

Dan delivers How to Become a Leader Who Matters as a workshop built on the nine lessons, and the material runs through his leadership keynotes. Face-to-face or virtual, worldwide. The nine lessons also sit on the people side of his 4 Ds of leadership, within Develop and Dignify.

Planning a leadership event? See the leadership keynote speaker and workshop page for formats, topics and how to check a date.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the nine leadership lessons in Lead. Care. Win.?
Be Relatable, Play for Meaning, Stay Present, Remain Curious, Embrace Change, Dare to Share, Command Clarity, Commit to Balance, and Champion Others.

Who wrote Lead. Care. Win.?
Dan Pontefract, a Canadian leadership strategist and author of seven books. It was published in 2020 and won a Nautilus Book Awards silver medal in the Business and Leadership category.

What does it mean to be a leader who matters?
A leader who improves how they treat people: relatable, purposeful, present, curious, open to change, generous with knowledge, clear, balanced, and humble enough to champion others ahead of themselves.

What is time adultery?
Dan Pontefract’s term for being physically present with people while giving your attention to something else, the opposite of the Stay Present lesson.

How do the nine lessons relate to the 4 Ds of leadership?
They sit mostly on the people side of the 4 Ds, within Develop and Dignify, describing the character, care, and consideration that make people want to be on a team.

It’s time to care. Full potential is possible.