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@tundra tundra authored on 6 Mar 2015
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 lessons_for_leaders.rst
it gets lonely. That employee everyone is complaining about? The
one that used to do such good work and now is late all the time? You
can't tell everyone he's dying of incurable cancer. The big merger that
will cause you to have to RIF 20% of the workforce? You can't say a
word. Great leaders understand that lonliness is a cost of leadership.
word. Great leaders understand that loneliness is a cost of leadership.
They balance it with other behaviors like mentoring and community outreach,
but they never complain about the burden. It goes with the territory.
 
Great leaders are often lost. I once had my boss tell me, "I feel so lost
most of the time. All these people depend on me and I often haven't got a glue."
That's perfect! It's exactly where you're supposed to be. Remember that strategic mind?
By the very definition of
 
Great Leaders Maintain Perspective
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It's worth noting that bad leaders crack under the pressure and start
sharing these confidences with their inner circle to try and relieve
the stress of it all. When they do this, that reservoir of trust
starts to drain pretty quickly. If the CEO shares some personal
matter about one of your peers with you, what confidence do you have
that he won't share your details with someone else?
 
Great leaders are often lost. I once had my boss tell me, "I feel so
lost most of the time. All these people depend on me and I often
haven't got a clue." That's perfect! It's exactly where you're
supposed to be. Remember that strategic mind? By the very definition
of leading to new places, leaders *are* lost. They're supposed to be.
Great leaders embrace the fact that they're lost in the woods. In
fact, they'll tell you they are not remotely lost. They're just
exploring.
 
 
Great Leaders Foster Constructive Argument
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Great Leaders Take Risks
++++++++++++++++++++++++
In my early career, the corporate culture was "We know what we're
doing. We have policies and processes. Do as you're told."
(Everyone chomped at the bit to become a manager so they could be the
ones doing the telling.) This central command and control model nearly
obliterated a lot of top tier corporate brands in the next several
decades. A lot of bottom up intelligence wasn't making into
the hands of the leadership.
 
Great leaders encourage vigorous, constructive confrontation at all
levels of the organization. They see themselves as referees ensuring
that these are fair and productive. They intervene when the conflict
becomes personal or otherwise unprofessional. This is not to say that
everyone gets a vote. But confrontation with integrity creates a much
larger marketplace of ideas from which to draw.
 
This has another huge benefit. When you watch people in a conflict
of ideas *the next generation of leaders emerges*. Great leaders
are passionate. "Put me in coach. Give me the ball." When you
foster responsible organizational conflict, these people emerge
naturally.
 
 
 
Great Leaders Can Identify Bricks And Mortar
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Great Leaders Share Success But Take The Blame
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
Leadership is fundamentally about getting people to follow you as your
make decisions over incomplete data. You're asking the organization to
take risk.
 
 
Great Leaders Insipire People Beyond Their Boundaries
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
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$Id: lessons_for_leaders.rst,v 1.103 2015/03/06 22:25:18 tundra Exp $
$Id: lessons_for_leaders.rst,v 1.104 2015/03/06 22:41:47 tundra Exp $
 
You can find the latest version of this program at:
 
http://www.tundraware.com/Software/lessons_for_leaders