Diary of a Leader: Can Anyone Truly Become a Leader?
- Lindsay Sheldrake
- Dec 21, 2024
- 3 min read
Updated: Apr 20
Welcome to "Diary of a Leader" - Real Stories, Leadership Lessons, and Personal Growth
Ah, leadership. It’s messy, rewarding, and full of lessons you can only learn by doing.
Welcome to Diary of a Leader—a behind-the-scenes look at what it really takes to lead high-performing teams and deliver results in project-based businesses.
Whether you’re scaling operations or managing creative chaos, this space is for leaders who want to grow with clarity, confidence, and impact.
If you lead a design firm, creative studio, or project-driven team, you’ve likely felt the tension—trying to maintain excellence while everything around you shifts.
As a Fractional COO and project leadership partner, I’m here to share the insights, tools, and real-world strategies that help teams work smarter, move faster, and build better.
And today, I’m unpacking a question I hear often: Can anyone truly become a leader?
Can Anyone Truly Become a Leader in Creative Businesses?
It’s a fair question. There’s a long-standing belief that some people are just "natural leaders"—that charisma, confidence, and decisiveness are innate.
But I don’t buy it.
From my experience, leadership isn’t about who you are—it’s about how you show up. The ability to lead can absolutely be developed. It’s shaped by mindset, not just personality.
I’ve worked with introverts, creatives, analysts, and visionaries. Some were quiet. Some were bold. But the ones who became true leaders all shared one thing in common: they committed to growth.
Leadership isn’t a job title or a loud voice. It’s a learned ability to influence outcomes, empower others, and take accountability.
When team members begin to feel truly connected to their purpose and are empowered to take initiative, that’s when their leadership potential starts to emerge. That’s why creating an environment that encourages engagement and ownership is so critical.
What Developing Leadership Skills Actually Looks Like
If you’re wondering what the path looks like to becoming a stronger leader—it’s not a straight line. It’s a series of intentional practices:
Self-awareness: You can’t lead others if you don’t understand your own strengths, blind spots, and impact.
Consistency: Real leadership is built in the day-to-day. It’s not about one heroic moment—it’s about showing up with clarity and integrity, again and again.
Learning from feedback: Whether it’s from peers, clients, or your team—good leaders listen, adjust, and evolve.
Making decisions when it counts: Leaders don’t always have perfect information, but they step forward anyway.
None of these traits are “gifts”—they’re habits that are developed, one decision at a time.
This kind of day-to-day alignment to clarity and purpose is what shapes high-performing teams. It doesn’t happen by accident—it happens through leadership that invites focus and accountability.
The Mindset Shift: Leadership Potential vs. Leadership Personality
Yes—with intention.
If someone is willing to:
Get uncomfortable
Practice self-leadership
Build relationships grounded in trust
Stay committed when it’s hard…
They can lead.
You don’t need to be the loudest person in the room. You need to be the one who cares deeply, acts deliberately, and takes responsibility for the outcome.
This level of ownership—where someone steps up before they’re asked—is a hallmark of leadership. And the more clarity and structure you can provide, the more space your team has to step into it.
The Leadership Lesson
If we keep treating leadership like a rare personality trait, we’ll miss out on incredible potential within our teams.
But if we start viewing leadership as a skill to be developed—we open up new pathways for growth, ownership, and impact.
The next generation of leaders is already on your team. Your job is to build the environment where they can step forward.
Wrapping Up (Because Time is Precious)
Here’s the takeaway: Can anyone truly become a leader? Yes—if they’re willing to grow through action.
Leadership isn’t given. It’s practiced.
Catch you next time, fellow leaders-in-training—and remember, leadership isn’t something you’re handed. It’s something you earn, one choice at a time.
Want help unlocking the leadership potential on your team?
Book a free consultation and let’s talk about what it takes to build future-ready leaders.
Stay tuned for more real-world lessons on leadership, operational clarity, and successful project delivery in the next installment of Diary of a Leader—because leading teams and managing projects isn’t about doing it all; it’s about doing what matters, exceptionally well.
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