Leadership Insights Every Manager Should Practice

Most leadership advice comes from business books, executive coaching, or management frameworks developed through research. While those resources are valuable, they're not the only places where leadership wisdom can be found.

In a recent conversation with Dr. Joel A. Davis Brown, executive leadership consultant, and author of The Souls of Queer Folk, he shared insights from his research into the values of the LGBTQ+ community. What began as a personal journey to better understand his own identity uncovered something much bigger: many of the values that have helped this community navigate change, adversity, and belonging are also the qualities people want most from their leaders.

Here are three leadership lessons every manager can put into practice.

Authenticity is more than being yourself

Most of us treat authenticity as an external performance: say what you feel, don't filter yourself. Joel's definition is different, and more useful. Authenticity is internal alignment first: are you clear on who you are and what you value, independent of what other people expect of you? 

Only after that internal clarity does the external behavior matter. I've coached managers who describe themselves as direct and conflict-comfortable, then watch themselves go silent in the exact meeting where directness was called for. That gap between self-image and behavior is the actual problem authenticity is meant to solve, and it starts with the internal question, not the external one.

Verve is not charisma

Verve showed up on Joel's list as an internal exuberance, a joie de vivre. It gets confused with charisma constantly, but charisma is a performance for an audience. 

Verve is an internal state that happens to be visible to other people. You can feel it the second you engage with someone that has it, and the second you talk to someone that doesn't. 

The leadership implication: you can't manufacture verve for a meeting. You can only build a work life that generates it consistently enough that people feel it on the good days and don't lose you on the bad ones.

Non-binary thinking is a leadership skill

Joel described non-binary thinking as refusing to stay fixed on an either/or choice and asking instead whether there's a third option nobody's named yet. It's the same instinct that makes me answer “it depends” when my husband asks if I want Italian or tacos. 

It sounds small until you apply it to a stuck team debate, a client conflict, or your own assumption about how work has to happen. Every meaningful shift in how we work, travel, or communicate came from someone refusing to accept that the existing two options were the only two options.

Great leadership insights comes from unexpected places

Leadership isn't a matter of following a single formula.

It requires continually learning from diverse experiences, communities, and perspectives.

Joel's research reminds us that some of the most valuable leadership lessons don't come from traditional management theory. They come from listening, staying curious, and being willing to rethink what great leadership can look like.

That's a lesson every manager can benefit from.

Listen to the full conversation with Dr. Joel A. Davis Brown here or wherever you get your podcasts.

Keep up with Dr. Joel A. Davis-Brown.

- Connect with Joel on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joelanthonybrown/

- Follow him on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joelabrown/ 

- Visit the Pneumos website: https://www.pneumos.com/

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The Modern Manager is a leadership podcast for rockstar managers who want to create a working environment where people thrive, and great work gets done.

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