Hobbies that Make You aBetter Leader

Every experience teaches a lesson forpeople who are willing to learn them.

Something as simple as a hobby canprepare you for leadership by teaching

you how to work with people andaccomplish goals.

Any hobby that involves working withother people can do this, but some of

them have much more potential thanothers.

Team Sports

A team wins or loses based on howwell the individual members can worktogether. The skill of each player does

matter, but the team’s total effort ismuch more important. Most otherteam efforts in life work the sameway, which makes team sports a

valuable way to practice teamworkwith low stakes.

The team’s captain will learn themost, since the captain is the one whomakes most of the important choices,but everyone can learn by watchingthe captain. They also offer a chanceto learn about the internal dynamics

of a team by taking part in them.

Sports also provide an opportunity tolearn about objectives. A team’s goal isto score points and win the game, but

most players have smaller goals oftheir own. A defensive player’s goal isto stop opponents from scoring, whileanother player’s objective might be to

open up opportunities for scorers.

All of those little objectives lead to thebig objective. Players need to makequick decisions to prioritize all ofthose goals while keeping the big

picture in mind, and that’s a valuableskill for any leader.

TabletopGaming

Tabletop games, such as Carcassonneor Twilight Struggle, offer many of the

advantages of sports in a calmer,slower environment. Like sports,

players need to prioritize a variety ofsmall objectives to achieve a big goal

while dealing with other players.

Unlike sports, players usually have thechance to stop and think about their

plans before they put them into action.

These games teach players how tothink through a plan and put it intoaction. Other players will interfere

with that plan, so they also teachplayers how to adapt a plan as

circumstances change.

A good leader needs to be able to stopand think about how to achieve goalsin addition to making snap decisions

and working with people, so thesegames are valuable learning tools.

Charity Work

The best way to learn about leadershipis to practice it, and charity work

offers a great opportunity to do so andto make a difference in the

community.

Most charity organizations are eagerto take any help that they can get, and

they’re normally willing to trainpeople to run events.

Local churches are often a good placeto start looking for ways to contribute,

but it never hurts to ask around withother local organizations.

Running a charity event teachesorganizational skills that are difficult

to learn from a book. Charityorganizers learn to juggle the needs of

the group with the personalities ofvolunteers, who sometimes come into

conflict with each other.

Mediation requires a gentle touch,since volunteers can always leave the

project, so there’s no better way tolearn methods for conflict resolution

within a team.