August revealed something important about what leaders are looking for. You are not simply looking for inspiration. You are looking for answers. The most-read articles this month tackled some of the most important questions facing leaders today:
- How do you keep from losing your leadership?
- How do you give your team hope?
- How do you recognize leadership drift before it becomes a crisis?
- How do you measure what really matters?
- How do you develop elite performers and recognize leadership potential in unexpected people?
From a 16-year-old lifeguard to the world’s best performers, from church leadership to organizational health, these stories demonstrate that leadership lessons are everywhere.
Thank you for reading, sharing, and engaging with these ideas. Your interest continues to remind me that great leaders never stop learning. And as is this site’s style, the best leadership lessons are often hiding in places we least expect.
The Top 10 Most-Read Leadership Articles of August ’26
The following are The Top 10 Most-Read Leadership Articles of August ’26 as determined by you the readers:
- 5 Things Lucky People Do That Unlucky People Don’t and 9 More Most-Read Leadership Articles of July ’26 – For the second consecutive month, the concept of luck resonated with leaders on a deep level. Also, make sure you check out the other nine articles to know what leaders are currently reading.
- The Fastest Way to Lose Your Leadership – Influence can take a lifetime to build but can be lost at a moment in time. Make sure you read this article so you don’t step on this landmine.
- 5 Things Leaders Do When Their Teams Need Hope – People are dying for a lack of hope. It is something leaders must provide, otherwise why would someone follow you.
- The 3 New Leadership Metrics Every Leader Should Track – Yesterday’s solutions do not solve today’s problems. Successful leaders are thinking in different ways. This article will help you do that.
- The 4 Stages of Leadership Drift – Success does not come naturally. There is a natural drift to irrelevance, assumption, and average. This article will teach you how to combat this.
- What’s Actually Killing Your Church? The Surprising 250-Year Diagnosis – There is nothing new under the sun. It is packaged differently but the same things are still tripping leaders up.
- 4 Secret Habits of the World’s Best Performers – I love writing about elite performers and elite performance. This article will show you how it’s done.
- 5 Traits That Make Young Leaders Attractive to Established Organizations – I want young leaders to have everyone opportunity available to them. This article will position next-gen leaders for success.
- The 16-Year-Old Lifeguard Who Demonstrated Leadership Better Than Most Executives – This young man did something so extraordinary the President of the United States commented on it. Leaders were so impressed that the lessons were one of my most-read articles of the month.
- 6 Ways Great Leaders Find Value Where Everyone Else Sees None – This is a unique article which teaches leaders how to find hidden gems in unusual place.
Thank you for making August another incredible month at Brian Dodd On Leadership. Every read, share, comment, and conversation means more to me than you probably realize. I’m grateful that you continue to invest your time in these stories and, more importantly, that you are committed to becoming a better leader.
My hope is that these articles don’t simply give you something interesting to read, but something valuable to remember, discuss, and put into practice. There are leadership lessons all around us, and I’m honored to keep finding and sharing them with you. Thank you for being part of this community. I can’t wait to see what leadership lessons September brings.
The best leaders never stop learning because every day brings another opportunity to lead better.
Brand New Free Resource
In partnership with my friends at NetLine, I am pleased to bring you the new complimentary resource The Top 75 Leadership Quotes of 2026 Part 1. This will take you twenty minutes to read and a lifetime to apply. Now a special request, if you see any ads when downloading, please feel free to click on them and learn more about what is provided. By doing so, this helps create the resources needed to continue bringing free content to you in the future. Thank you again, I hope you enjoy the resource.
