Posts tagged Leadership

All hail the generalist

Vikram Mansharamani, HBR:

The future has always been uncertain, but our ability to navigate it has been impaired by an increasing focus on studying bark. The closer you are to the material, the more likely you are to believe it. In psychology jargon, you anchor on your own beliefs and insufficiently adjust from them. In more straightforward language, a man with a hammer is more likely to see nails than one without a hammer. Expertise means being closer to the bark, and less likely to see ways in which your perspective may warrant adjustment. In today’s uncertain environment, breadth of perspective trumps depth of knowledge.

Very interesting read.

Want to start a successful business? Don't start with a plan

Anthony Tjan, HBR:

One of our most striking findings was that of the entrepreneurs we surveyed who had a successful exit (that is, an IPO or sale to another firm), about 70% did NOT start with a business plan.

Instead, their business journeys originated in a different place, a place we call the Heart. They were conceived not with a document but with a feeling and doing for an authentic vision. Clarity of purpose and passion ruled the day with less time spent writing about an idea and more time spent just doing it.

It doesn’t take much though to see why this makes so much sense.

Why the leadership movement is leaving your church leaderless

Mike Breen:

At the end of the day, what most pastors want (and have been trained to want!) is minions to execute the most important vision of all. Their own. In doing this, they effectively kill people’s ability to get a vision of their own.

This is the first in a five part series by Mike and brings some really astute analysis of the state of raising leaders within churches—and what we should be doing.

What Makes a Thought Leader?

Shel Israel, writing for Forbes:

A thought leader is someone who looks at the future and sets a course for it that others will follow. Thought leaders look at existing best practices then come up with better practices. They foment change, often causing great disruption.

Thought leaders are people, not companies. But very often an enterprise employs, encourages and embraces individual thought leaders, and then earn recognition as a thought leadership company.

Interesting piece exploring what should really be meant when we use the (now overused) phrase ‘thought leader’.

A Lesson in Focus and Clarity

Alex McManus:

Whatever your enterprise, consider the exercise of focusing …and focusing until the thing you seek to do becomes really clear.

Focus helps you know who you are and what you are all about.

Great article. And I love the story Alex tells about a restaurant in San Francisco.

How Great Leaders Grow

Ken Blanchard:

The biggest obstacle that stalls leaders’ growth is the human ego. When leaders start to think they know it all, they stop growing. Growing for leaders is like oxygen to a deep sea diver. Without learning and growing, leaders die in terms of their effectiveness.

The whole interview that this quote is taken from with Ken is well checking out.

'Failure week' at top girls' school to build resilience

BBC News:

Ms Hanbury (the headmistress) told BBC News that she had placed a great emphasis on developing resilience and robustness among the girls since she arrived at the school four years ago.

“The girls need to learn how to fail well - and how to get over it and cope with it,” she said. “Fear of failing can be really crippling and stop the girls doing things they really want to do. The pupils are hugely successful but can sometimes overreact to failure even though it can sometimes be enormously beneficial to them. We want them to be brave - to have courage in the classroom,” she added.

Love this!

The Obama Memos

New Yorker:

Obama’s rhetoric about a nation of common purpose and values no longer fits this country: there really is a red America and a blue America.

Fascinating profile of Obama’s Presidency to date.

Trail of accomplishment

Seth Godin:

Are you leaving behind an easily found trail of accomplishment?

Few people are interested in your resume any more. Plenty are interested in what you’ve done.

Good reminder to make sure we’re doing - not talking about or thinking about - great things with our lives.

Three types of leaders

Nicky Gumbel:

1. Those who make things happen.
2. Those who watch things happen.
3. Those who havn’t a clue what is happening.

A good reminder to make sure you don’t end up being a number 2 or 3 type leader.

Break the reassurance habit

Seth Godin:

Developing the reassurance habit is easy to do and hard to kick. The problem is this: there are some ventures where no reassurance is possible. There is important work for you to do where no proof is available.

We all have a tendency towards comfort and the path of least resistance. The more we look for comfort - for reassurance - the more we need it. This is a good post by Seth encouraging us to break the reassurance habit in order to stop it holding us back from being the bold, daring, fearless people we need to be if we’re going to push boundaries and do the impossible.

Learning leadership from Congress

It’s related to the US SOPA/PIPA legislation but, regardless, this post is full of some great what-not-to-do leadership advice.