How to Become a Better Leader

Whoever said, “Traveling is beautiful but not as beautiful as coming home,” clearly wasn’t an out of work actor.

About two years ago, after nearly a decade of schlepping from one cramped casting room to the next, I parted ways with the love of my life.

New York City.

To say my homecoming to the Bay Area was less than auspicious would be a finalist for understatement of the century.

Returning home felt like using chopsticks for the first time; awkward, embarrassing, and a little bit impractical.

Whatever poise I embellished was belied by the realization the first half of my life hadn’t gone according to plan, and the second felt progressively more uncertain.

 Then one morning, I received a call from a college where I’d applied to be a professor. I’d made the inquiry so long ago I nearly forgot it happened.

“Nick! I have the perfect class for you,” the man claimed. “It starts in a few weeks.”

The call woke me from a haze, withering the cloud of rejection that seemed to be hovering above since my return.

There was hope; a chance for me to offer value beyond a casting room or stage.

Yet, I’d be lying if I said the teaching offer didn’t feel like a ruse, a dare at best.

How on earth was I going to come up with a rigorous lesson plan for a class I’d never taught, in a community I’d never step foot in, to a group of students I knew nothing about?

This could be a disaster, I thought.

So what did I do?

I accepted the offer.

Five months later, I’m happy to report I’m still standing.

Mostly.

Teaching, it turns out, is less of a job than a calling, a craft even.

And like, say a carpenter, the stakes for not using your tools precisely, are just as high.

A good teacher has the power to influence, lift a spirit, and at best, bolster a sense of self-belief.

So on the days where I’d peer out into a sea of blank stares, my heart would sink, convinced I had no business teaching whatever little I claimed to know.

I felt like a fraud.

But on the days where personal stories were shared, spirited debate reigned, and no one seemed to mind the class going over time, there was nowhere on earth I’d have rather been.

After class, I’d practically skip to my car.

As a whole, my first semester turned out to be far more successful than I could have imagined.

I made meaningful connections, stress tested what worked, and walked away with some indispensable lessons on leadership that transcend the classroom.

Here is 1 of 10 Lessons on Leading a Team

Show up on time

Your credibility can erode by the second. Literally.

Honoring your commitments is the easiest way to communicate you’re invested in both the mission at hand and the people you’re leading.

Arriving on time may seem insignificant, but it’s the simplest behaviors, good and bad, that compound over time and make all the difference.

Showing a reverence for the only resource we can’t make more of demonstrates the integrity of a person worth following.