Intentional Leadership: 12 Lenses for Focusing Strengths, Managing Weaknesses, and Achieving Your Purpose by Jane A. G. Kise

In Intentional Leadership, Jane A. G. Kise draws on her decades of research, training and consulting with business leaders around the world to provide practical insights on how to use your strengths, identify and address your weaknesses, and achieve success. She offers twelve lenses for focusing on the strengths that leaders need to become effective. Each of the twelve lenses provides a way for leaders to recognize the strengths they have and utilize them to maximum effectiveness.

Kise begins with the first lens, “see yourself as intentional.” Through this lens, Kise outlines the importance of being aware of one’s intentions and being intentional in how one behaves. This includes being aware of the impact of your decisions and behavior on others and having the courage to take responsibility for those decisions and to take action accordingly. The second lens, “find your fit,” focuses on the importance of having a sense of clarity and purpose in your leadership. It is essential to understand your own skills, talents, and passions in order to choose a focus that best utilizes those strengths. The third lens, “take steps to enable,” focuses on the importance of taking action to develop and maintain the skills and resources needed to reach your goals and objectives.

The fourth lens, “harness your strengths,” explores how to develop your knowledge and capabilities, maximize your strengths, and make the most of your weaknesses and challenges. This lens focuses on the importance of receiving feedback and utilizing that feedback to improve continuously. Kise highlights the specific steps a leader can take to use their strengths and acknowledges that mistakes are an integral part of the learning process.

The fifth lens, “foster relationships,” centers on understanding the dynamics of relationships and how those dynamics can be either beneficial or detrimental to a team or organization. Kise reminds leaders to cultivate strong relationships, trust, and collaboration within their teams and organizations in order to promote mutual benefit. The sixth lens, “think integratively,” focuses on the importance of integrating various perspectives and points of view when making decisions. Kise encourages leaders to consider the ways in which different stakeholders’ perspectives can be compliment one another in order to maximize effectiveness.

The seventh lens, “facilitate change,” looks at the need to create an environment of collaboration and creativity in order to foster innovation and transformation. Kise outlines the four steps of facilitating change that include envisioning solutions, creating a plan, taking action and monitoring progress. The eighth lens, “respond to challenges,” focuses on the importance of having the courage and resilience to face difficult situations and challenges and use them as an opportunity to grow and learn.

The ninth lens, “balance work and life,” addresses the challenge of finding work-life balance. Kise encourages leaders to make time for rest, relaxation, and leisure activities in order to maintain a healthy lifestyle. The tenth lens, “celebrate success,” discusses the importance of recognizing and celebrating successes with internal and external stakeholders. This helps build trust and morale, while also helping a leader to stay motivated and focused.

The eleventh lens, “build credibility,” focuses on the importance of becoming a credible leader. It is important to be transparent and honest, as well as open to learning and making mistakes. Finally, in the twelfth lens, “succeed ethically,” Kise outlines the importance of ethical leadership and having the personal courage to do the right thing.

At the end of the book, Kise provides a comprehensive framework for using the twelve lenses in order to develop leadership skills, find balance between work and life, and achieve one's goal. As Kise states, “Leadership is a process that requires intention and purpose, not just skills and knowledge.” Intentional Leadership provides leaders with the means to become more intentional and to realize their purpose. It is a valuable resource for anyone who wants to lead with greater awareness, skill, and success.