Lessons Learned from Building the Effective Leadership Toolkit
Nov 13, 2025
Designing and launching the Effective Leadership Toolkit (ELT) has been one of the most rewarding — and humbling — experiences in our journey at Small Changes Big Impact.
Like many entrepreneurs and leaders, I had to learn that great things evolve through iteration, not perfection.
When we began, my big-picture thinking led me to want the whole framework complete before launching. The Toolkit is built around six interconnected domains of effective leadership — and I wanted every piece to fit neatly together. Looking back, we could have launched one domain at a time — a minimum viable product approach. But as I soon realized, each decision has trade-offs: starting smaller gets you into market faster, but holding out for a cohesive whole ensures stronger alignment and clarity.
Another key lesson was understanding our audience’s needs. As the content grew, we saw a natural split between Essential and Advanced leadership practices.
- The Effective Leadership Toolkit (ELT) now focuses on Essential Practices — the foundation SME leaders need across all six leadership domains.
- Advanced Practices have become our workshop offerings — deeper dives into topics like Strategic Planning, Navigating Change, and Creating High-Achieving Teams.
And perhaps the biggest personal lesson? Overcoming my own hesitancy to step forward as the face of Small Changes Big Impact. Influencer and author Daniel Priestley helped shift my mindset — reminding me that to make an impact, you must become a Key Person of Influence.
Our purpose has always been clear:
To inspire and equip business leaders and entrepreneurs with leadership practices and skills that drive business success, personal fulfilment, and community impact.
Each lesson along our journey reinforced that purpose — and reminds me that leadership growth, like business growth, is a continual process of learning, adjusting, and showing up.
💡 Small Changes, Big Impact Question: What “lesson learned” has most shaped the way you lead or launch new initiatives?
Find out more about the Effective Leadership Toolkit here
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