Weather, Climate, & Seasons of Leadership.

The sweltering heat has been relentless. While a few days, or even a couple of weeks, of summer warmth is a welcome embrace for many, we're now nearly six weeks into this unbroken stretch. No significant rain, and the forecast promises more of the same. Our lawns have surrendered, our plants and trees gasp for moisture—a genuine concern is setting in.

Leadership, remarkably, mirrors the weather. The behaviours we exhibit daily at work are our leadership weather patterns: the actions we take, the decisions we make, and our immediate responses to people and situations. Often, we simply navigate the moment, our behaviours shaped by necessity, positive or negative, within our control or a reaction to the workflow, or simply following established norms. Even desired and positive behaviours, much like too much sunshine, can become detrimental. But unlike the weather, our daily leadership choices are highly mutable. A negative attribute can be shed with a conscious choice to act differently; a positive one might shift due to a colleague's behaviour. The crucial insight? We wield far more control over our leadership "weather" than we often realize. We can change it, and it's essential that we do so regularly. Humans are complex, often irrational creatures, prone to easy assumptions and inherent biases. A leadership approach that resonated powerfully one day might fall flat the next. The true hallmark of impactful leaders is their keen ability to discern what's working, what isn't, and to adapt accordingly. Many of us generally exert a positive leadership influence, yet when things go awry, we're perplexed, dismissing the negativity as an anomaly or blaming others' shortcomings. Ask anyone their ideal summer holiday weather, and you'll likely hear "sunny, warm, and dry." Ask about desired leadership, and "supportive, caring, and consistent" often top the list. Yet, just as too much perfect weather sends us scurrying for air conditioning, an overdose of "ideal" leadership can feel stifling, leading to avoidance. As leaders, it's vital to keenly observe your team's cues, to diversify your leadership behaviors to spark growth and development, and to embrace agility and adaptability. Leadership, like the weather, is a tapestry of variety, with both positive and negative repercussions. Only through change and moderation can the positive truly prevail.

Over time, daily leadership behaviours coalesce to define our leadership identity and legacy—much like weather patterns shape our climate. But unlike the weather, we actively chart the course of our identity and legacy through our daily choices. How many of us consciously consider our desired leadership identity year after year? Who contemplates the legacy our leadership will leave behind? For years, I've engaged in this deliberate reflection: where I'm headed, where I'm guiding my team, and what we're leaving in our wake. My leadership climate has evolved significantly. Early in my career, my identity was forged in my ability to navigate conflict and crisis, earning respect for getting things done and fostering strong communities; my legacy was reputational. As my career progressed, my leadership climate adapted, shaped by personal growth, the work itself, and the relationships I cultivated. My identity became more team and group-centric. My legacy transformed into building high-performing teams, delivering innovative results, and launching new projects, programs, and approaches. Currently, I'm shifting from concepts of high performance to cultivating productive cultures. These cultures emerge from healthy tension, focusing on personal innovation practices that, over time, transform work norms and culture. The ultimate aim is to ensure the long-term success and well-being of work teams through moment-to-moment behavioural choices. Your leadership climate can and should change. You can intentionally cultivate the behaviours (your "weather") you desire, setting a clear course toward your ideal leadership identity and legacy (your “climate”).

My leadership behaviours have broadened considerably over the years. While certain core traits surface more often, I've learned that work itself has distinct "seasons," each with its own weather and impact on our climate. Leadership seasons are cyclical patterns of demands and responses, primarily driven by the work environment. For instance, tax accountants must exhibit different leadership behaviours during tax season than at other times to ensure success. These seasons demand adaptation; a refusal to adjust can lead to catastrophic consequences for both us and our teams. This doesn't mean abandoning our core leadership strengths, but rather developing and applying new approaches to thrive during that season. Success isn't merely surviving challenges; it means that in any work season, your team is growing, demonstrating care, innovating, and ultimately experiencing personal and professional success. The leadership traits (your "weather") you choose to display during difficult seasons disproportionately shape your leadership identity and legacy. How we lead under pressure, pushed beyond our comfort zones, is often how others remember us—it's the bedrock of our leadership reputation and the crucible of our most significant personal growth as leaders. A crucial nuance often overlooked with seasons is that different work teams, and even different roles within teams, may be operating in distinct seasons simultaneously. For example, as an Associate Dean, my busiest periods often coincided with less busy times for faculty, and rarely aligned with student peak times, while frequently overlapping with increased institutional demands. Though all of us navigated the seasons of higher education, our individual leadership seasons were remarkably different and often in conflict. Thus, as developing leaders, it's essential to recognize your own leadership season and apply the necessary abilities for success, but equally vital to acknowledge the seasons others are in and tailor your leadership behaviours to their success as well.

I want to extend my gratitude to my close friend Eric for our conversation last night. Eric is an exceptional leader who dedicates time to reflecting on his behaviours, constantly adjusting his approach to foster tremendous success within his team and organization. Eric shared a story where he sensed palpable tension between himself and his team. He felt their priorities weren't aligning with his own. He made a decisive shift: he simply approached his team and asked, "What is your priority, and what do you need me to do to solve that problem?" There was a crucial caveat, however. He added, "If I get you what you need to solve the problem, you have to use it to solve the problem." He brilliantly transformed tension into productivity, which, in turn, generated more tension, poised to drive even greater productivity. Eric understands the "weather" he's capable of generating, he knows the "climate" he desires for himself and his team, and he intrinsically recognizes that changes in "seasons" infuse vitality and wellness into his work and his team.