I often have trouble filling out applications to speak at leadership conferences.

They ask for four or five specific measurable objectives for the day.

That’s not the actual problem. I certainly want to be held accountable for creating a meaningful change in my audience.

The problem is the way they want those objectives to be framed.

The examples that they provide generally focus on discrete, tactical skills. While practical in nature, my workshops don’t provide people with discrete, tactical skills. My workshops help people become better leaders.

Great leadership is no more the result of a single course or book than a person’s health is a result of a single meal or single activity. So why do we try to force fit discrete, short term measures to a leadership workshop?

Leadership isn’t about discrete, tactical skills.

Leadership isn’t about skills at all. Obviously, a good leader needs knowledge and skills.

The best leader’s knowledge and skills aren’t that much different from anyone else. In fact, some of the best leaders aren’t the ones with the most knowledge or skill.

The key differentiator between good leaders and others is their mindset.

Good leaders look at the world, their business, their people, and their problems in a different way. They assume more responsibility and ownership than do others. They aren’t afraid of failure or of taking calculated risks. They focus on results and the big picture. Finally, they break down barriers that prevent their people from succeeding. None of these are skills. They all have to do with a leader’s mindset. The best leaders are able to mobilize their own and other people’s skills in unique ways.

Leaders need to have their assumptions challenged.  They need new filters through which to see and think about the world.  They need to understand how things that they once believed were different are actually similar, and how things that appear the same can be quite different.

I’m not suggesting that we not hold leadership training accountable for results. We just need to get better at understanding what those results look like.

I’m not interested in teaching a leader how to do one thing differently.

I want to help that leader do everything differently. That’s how you create impact.

Good leadership isn’t about doing one new thing. It’s about bringing that new thing to everything that you do. It’s about combining that new thing with all of your old things.

We need to stop trying to break leadership into small, discrete parts. Otherwise, we will always miss the mark on what leadership is really about.

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Brad Kolar is a an executive consultant, speaker, and thinking coach with Avail Advisors. He can be reached at brad.kolar@availadvisors.com.