‘Leading So People Will Follow’

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‘Why do people want passion in a leader?’

Erika Andersen

‘A truly passionate leader invites and encourages dialogue. She wants others to share in her passion, not simply tolerate or be railroaded by it.’

‘Leaders who are farsighted are realistic … and future oriented.’

‘Speaking from a we versus I perspective arises out of a belief that we are responsible for success, that we will work together to achieve the goals of the organization.’

Learning begins inside your own head, in managing how you’re talking to yourself about the obstacles before you.’

‘If we align ourselves behind a leader, we want that person to stay the course: we don’t want him or her to get bored, or distracted, or careless, and wander away from the fray.’

‘… Courageous leader also has the courage to change her mind in response to new information and take full responsibility for both the initial position and the new one.’

Courage in a leader is a blend of toughness, decisiveness, willingness to move past one’s own limitations, humility, and resilience. It involves making difficult business and personal decisions, overcoming fear and risk to act on those decisions, and responding to the outcomes of those decisions in a responsible way.’

People want courageous leaders in order to know that someone will make the tough calls and take responsibility for them.’-

Erika Andersen

Recruitthebest.org

‘When people observe their leader behaving courageously over time, they are much more willing to follow him or her into new territory.’

When the leader lacks courage, people feel as though they need to protect themselves. They tend to withdraw their commitment from the team and the enterprise and the enterprise try to figure out how to mitigate the personal impact of their leader’s lack of courage.’

Source:

Erika Andersen (2012). Leading So People Will Follow

Time For Bold Risks

‘When you feel fear, remind yourself that it might indicate that you’re on the edge of a creative breakthrough. That’s not wishful thinking. That’s science.’

‘When it’s time to dream big and imagine, keep the extrinsic incentives away. When it’s time to refine and grind out an execution, a little friendly competition, low-level prizes, and creative rewards can work wonders.’

‘Spend time doing things that make you a beginner again.’

‘What can you do to remind yourself and those you lead that you’re aiming to be an explorer, not an expert.’

‘When you encounter rules that limit your creativity, first suggest they be changed, and if that doesn’t work, be open about your intention to break them.’

‘… Minimizing unhelpful rules can release creativity.’

‘People are more likely to act and think in unsafe ways when the environment around them is safe.’

‘Pushing ourselves to spend less time as experts and more time as explorers loosens overly rigid knowledge networks and gives us a personal edge as thinkers and creatives.’

‘As a leader do you work to make sure everyone feels safe enough to take risks?’

Why do so many of us stay comfortably in our own domains, inadvertently becoming more fixed and rigid?

Source:

Jonah Sachs (2018). Unsafe Thinking: How To Be Nimble & Bold When You Need It Most