As a new academic year begins, I often think back to the “new notebook feeling” — that crisp, blank page full of possibility.
When I was a student, I spent far too much time picking out the right notebook and carefully writing in my best handwriting on the first page. But inevitably, I’d make a mistake halfway through the first sentence.
At that moment, you face a choice: Do you tear out the page, or do you keep going? I think that’s a fitting metaphor for leadership.
Transformation rarely looks like neat, flawless handwriting. You will make mistakes. You will change your mind. You will encounter complex challenges without obvious answers. That friction isn’t an obstacle to growth. It is the growth.
The Real Work of Leadership
At Stanford GSB, our mission is to develop principled, insightful, and innovative leaders who change the world. You aren’t just here to learn about leadership; you are here to become a better leader.
That requires continually developing five core practices:
- Self-Awareness: Understanding your values, motivations, strengths, and blind spots.
- Perspective-Taking: Seeing complex problems through the eyes of people with different experiences, backgrounds, and assumptions.
- Holistic Communication: Communicating clearly, verbally and nonverbally, while practicing deep, active listening.
- Decision-Making: Thinking analytically and exercising judgment when the answers aren’t obvious, and the stakes are high.
- Contextual Awareness: Understanding and navigating complex systems while recognizing your own ability to influence and change them.
None of these is something we simply master and check off a list. They are practices - ones we return to throughout our lives and careers.
Be an “Illuminator”
Leadership is also about more than what you accomplish individually. It is about what you contribute to others.
Writer David Brooks uses the term “illuminators” to describe people who are deeply curious about others - people who listen carefully, make others feel seen, and help those around them become more fully themselves.
My hope for our community this year is that we strive to be illuminators for one another: leading with curiosity, generosity, and grace, especially when things get difficult.
So as we begin a new academic year, don’t worry about keeping the pages perfect. Fill them with bold questions. Cross things out. Change your mind. Listen to people who see the world differently. Take risks. Make mistakes. Learn from them.
And keep writing.
Sarah A. Soule
