the art of leading

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Contradiction #6

Have a general vision
All leaders have a vision which they want to communicate, so that others will also share that vision. In fact, having a vision and the capacity to transmit it can be considered the defining element of what true leadership is. With that said, part of its effective transmission is the potential of resonating in a wide array of circumstances, time periods, and places. The Constitution of the United States is a great example of a timeless vision statement. Its content is true for practically most of humanity, since it covers basic human needs and rights. It is also written in a way which makes it nimble and able to withstand countless shifts of circumstances. It might be interpreted differently in different moments, but the content that is being interpreted remains the same. All that changes is the context.

Have a specific vision
When you have and communicate a short and straight-to-the-point vision, prospective followers will remember it more easily. It also doesn’t confuse them. Think about it: do you remember 27 phone numbers more easily than 2 phone numbers? Also, a specific vision will allow you to gather a group of loyal followers. Face it: not everyone will be interested in joining your cause. But your vision, if specific enough, will attract a group of people who also believe in what you believe. That will not happen if you try to appeal to all of humanity. For example, as the manager of a manufacturing division in your company, your vision needs to be specific enough that the manufacturing people will feel identified with it.

Contradiction #7

Try to become a leader
This one is similar in some respect to Contradiction #1, from the first installment of this topic. If you are eager to communicate a vision and purpose to everyone out there that might be interested to listen to you, then that involves developing leadership skills. You will want to influence others so that they will share your goals and work toward them. For that reason, becoming a leader will be of the utmost priority. It will be the only reason to achieve it. Work on skills that will enable you to showcase whatever you’re trying to get across. Improve your relationship skills. Practice your motivation techniques. You will need that and more. Be mindful of the influence you might have on others, and try to improve the effectiveness of it.

Don’t try to become a leader
Many times, leaders become leaders as a side-effect of their eagerness to go out and turn something into reality. They aren’t consciously thinking about themselves as leaders, but just as messengers that want to get a message across. As a result, that energy and excitement boils over and infects other people, who are then willing to work toward the same goal. For this “messengers”, leadership just happens. People just automatically gravitate toward them as a byproduct of enthusiasm.

Contradiction #8

Go with your instinct
Your gut is very intelligent. Don’t you remember when you were in school (or perhaps you still are), and changed the answer to a question just to find out later that the original one was correct? That proves that many times your initial instinct is smarter than your logical reasoning. You have to admit: there are many things in life which we cannot explain logically, but just trust in its truth. Leadership is no different, particularly when making tough decisions, which is basically always. Learning to trust this gut instinct is part of learning to trust yourself. Learning to trust yourself is part of building self-confidence. Building self-confidence will make you a better leader.

Don’t go with your instinct
Your gut doesn’t always have all the information necessary to make a good decision about something. Therefore, your “logical reasoning” side has to gather that information, process it, and use it to arrive at an appropriate outcome. Instinct, if deprived of this information will not be trustworthy. A better way to go about it would be for you to at least plan a little bit. Leave as little as possible to uninformed decision-making.

Contradiction #9

Encourage agreement
A big part of leadership is the process of creating consensus among followers. In this particular time period, due to many advances in technology and science, effective collaboration is central to a leader’s job. Finding points of agreement fosters an environment of common aspiration. It contributes to the creation of a smooth ride toward the collective vision, instead of everyone rowing in their own directions, neutralizing the efforts of everyone else.

Encourage disagreement
Dissent is the only thing that will point towards areas of improvement. Having an organization exclusively full of “yes” people, who are merely trying to please you as a leader, will trump progress. Let’s be realistic: your organization has flaws. If nobody points them out, you won’t notice them, and therefore you won’t fix them. While many corporate meetings take place just to talk about how wonderful things are going, Bill Gates, one of the richest men in the world and leader of one of the most powerful and most effective organizations, is known to ask outright for dissenting opinions. This generates an environment of continuous improvement, where every stone is turned. You can start by not punishing people who point problems out. In fact, it might be a good idea to provide incentives for finding solutions to the problems they point out. Develop an attitude of constructive criticism and promote the creation of multiple points of views.

Contradiction #10

Try to be flawless
In a competitive environment, which most areas have, the person or organization who has the fewest flaws and commits the fewest errors will win. The athletic world is a great example of this. The difference between 1st and 2nd in a 100-meter race might be fractions of one second. That means that at some point in the previous 10 seconds, one of them saved that tiny fraction by being more efficient in performing a specific action. That action might have been a 1-degree difference in the angle of the torso. Note that it doesn’t mean that the 2nd-place runner was bad. It just means that the 1st-place runner committed fewer errors. Strive to be perfect in every way possible by attending to every potential area of improvement, big or small.

Don’t try to be flawless
A flawless leader does not exist. Everyone has strengths and also weaknesses. Striving to continuously improve in the personal, professional, mental, and spiritual levels is always worthy, but there will always be something new to learn. When you try to be too perfect, you will frequently find yourself being too careful also. This will impede necessary risk-taking, at the expense of many learning opportunities. Leadership, as you know, entails risking failure to find success. When you do fail, just pick yourself up, learn what needs to be learned, and go on your merry way. Being too careful will not let you do that.

Categories : Confidence, General Leadership, Goals, Loyalty, Personal Development, Relationships //