Good Leaders Are Willing To Change Their Minds Summary

It will forever be easier to set personal goals than to set goals that involve the participation and cooperation of others. Just because something is easier, though, doesn’t mean it is better; I consider “good” decision-making to be a practice that encompasses our fellows, rather than simply focusing on ourselves. To me, this is intrinsically linked to successful leadership; the leaders that I have observed as being most successful are the ones who do not only think of themselves.

From the vantage point of the present, it is easy to look back at the tenure of any great leader and draw conclusions about just what it was that made him/her great. We can examine the circumstances under which their leadership flourished; piece together what we know of their character and personality traits; delve into the factors that may have driven them; and dissect their leadership style all in an effort to pinpoint the source of their success. The ‘Great Man’ theory, popular in the 19th century and now thoroughly debunked, held that leaders are born, not made; suggesting that men like George Washington, Martin Luther King Jr., and Winston Churchill were born with the innate capacity to change the world (Landis,

What matters the most is what you do day by day over the long haul, explains the author. If you continually invest in your leadership and let your ‘assets’ compound, the inevitable result is growth overtime. While some are born with greater natural gifts than others, the ability to lead is really a collection of skills, with nearly all of which can be learned and improved. You can be a good leader if you want to, since everyone has the potential to be one, you just have to understand that you can’t accomplish it overnight. Leadership is complicated and has many facets, and it takes a lot of ‘seasoning’ to actually an effective leader. Whether you do or don’t have the natural ability for leadership, the author states that in the development and progress process probably occurred in the following four phases: Phase 1 being ‘I don’t know what I don’t know’ here a person doesn’t realize how valuable leadership is and believes it’s for people up the corporate ladder thus passing up the opportunity to learn how to lead. Phase 2 is ‘I know what I don’t know’ here you begin to realize the importance of learning how to lead and the learning process begins’. Phase 3 is ‘I grow and know and it starts to show’, in this phase you realize you lack skills and begin daily discipline of personal growth in leadership. In phase 4 ‘I simply go because of what I know’ is when you’re knowledgeable and your ability to lead

In the process of being a leader, Kinneeveauk emphasized the importance of not losing oneself, “of being you, being comfortable with your skin.” A large number of leaders have no idea who they are; they recognize what they are and live according to the expectation of their position. To him, 50% to 60% of being a leader is recognizing “who you are” and not living to the expectations of the job. Knowing who you are and becoming who you are as a leader [and learning over time the “what” of the job] – encapsulates the trait approach of a leader.

The book begins by diving into myths that must leaders believe to be true. The author goes in depth to outline the steps in order to be an effective 360 degree leader, by giving the reader a solid understanding of myths that have been formed. Obviously, these myths need to be dispelled in order to have a leader at any level can break out of their shell and live the 360 model. Each myth builds on the next one.

My father once told me that, “everything we do— be it in academia, at work, social or family life—we are guided by principles, beliefs and values that collectively form our ideology of life.” I believe that every leader, to a certain extent, is shaped through her individual personal experience. Although in some cases, we may not realize to what extent our personal assumptions and beliefs shape our ability to lead or be led.

A leader carries himself with high self-esteem giving out intelligent and well thought out answers and making the right decisions when needed this increases his reputation and subsequently transfers to his supporters who are at ease to know they have put their faith in the right leader (Northouse 2004 P.19) said that although it is important for a leader to be intelligent it is also important that he and his supporters are moving in the right direction together. Leaders who are very smart may have difficulties relating their ideas to their supporters this can lead to disagreements in the organisation. A leader has to understand what is required of him and how he can give effective leadership to his followers.

In a recent lecture, Chris Connolly said, “Years ago, psychology students brought home two fighting fish in a bowl. The objective of their experiment was to observe as the fish asserted their dominance. The fish positioned themselves head to head, and students would watch the fish charge at each other. After the first fish struck, the second would eventually rebound and charge at the first. The experiment could last 10 minutes, 10 hours, or 10 days. At some point, one of the fish would give up, and the other would continue to strike it until it died.” The moral of Chris Connolly’s story was not to give up. Every leader will put up one last fight and stay in for one more round. Regardless of how intimidating the battle ahead is, no burden is too relentless, and no peak is too high. No matter how many times life knocks them down, they stand up. Leaders’ dreams are larger than mountains, and they have the courage to scale their summits. They do so not for themselves but for others, because they are willing to work for what they are passionate about. A laborer’s appetite works for him, and his drives him on (Johnson, 2015). Leaders ask themselves and others, “What is your appetite?” As they move forward, they ask, “Is this what I am hungry for? Will this drive me forward every single day?” Leaders inspire others by asking fundamental questions about who they are, what their purpose is, and how they influence the course of history.

Leadership is a skill that takes most people many years and many mistakes to learn. Being a true leader requires great listening skills and the continuous desire to learn. In this paper, I will discuss the complexity principles of reflection, courage in leadership, and the results of three leadership assessment questionnaires I have taken. The purpose of this paper is to explore my abilities as a leader and discover which areas I require improvement and further learning.

Roselinde Torres thinks of change as a leap not a step. The speaker talks about building stamina to withstand people that believe you are not doing the right think. It focuses more on practices than situations. People can be leaders even if they keep doing the same thing, so to be a great leader one must seek change.

Inscribed on the entry-wall at the ancient Greek Temple of Apollo at Delphi are the words “know thyself”. Can a leader be truly effective without knowing one’s self? Although it has roots in previous times Authentic Leadership is a concept that began to emerge in its modern form in the 1960s. It wasn’t until 2003 when Bill George wrote about authentic leadership and its connection to ancient Greece that it became a popular leadership concept (Clark, 2014). Bill George is senior fellow at Harvard Business School, where he has taught leadership since 2004. He is the author of four best-selling books: 7 Lessons for Leading in Crisis, True North, Finding Your True North, and Authentic Leadership, as well True North Groups. His newest book, Discover Your True North, was published in August of 2015 along with its companion workbook, The Discover Your True North Fieldbook. He describes authentic leadership as a style of leading that is consistent with the core values and personality of the leader and one who leads from an honest, ethical and practical perspective. It is through the leaders authentic self, and not just the concept of self but more importantly the actions of the leader and how that is perceived by others that determines whether they believe the leader is authentic. It is through honest relationships and ethical actions that help to maximize the efforts of others in achieving the goal (George, 2016).

In my reflections as I prepared to write this paper, I came to the realization that leadership is much more complex especially since the paper requires that I focus on a few traits. In an effort to make it simple, I wrote down the traits that came to mind and in process had over 10 important traits but an even bigger challenge was on how to narrow them down to 3 or 4 and this is the place that required a good deal of reflection. Eventually, however, I had to prioritize them since in any case; it is not possible to get a leader that has all the traits. As I thought of the various leaders who have inspired me, I noticed that while they strived to provide the best leadership by focusing on their strong points, they still had their weaknesses. To me this provided a justification for at least identifying key desirable traits and thereafter working to improve them. I did manage to settle on four traits, which for me are indispensible if a leader or a leadership is to become effective.

Countless times leaders operate on instinct that has grown from what they have seen in the past. What leaders see others do sets the stage for what they may do in the future. A leader of sound character will exhibit that character at all times.” (p. 7-13)

In his article, “How Leaders Think,” Roger Martin presents the concept that great leaders can hold two opposing ideas in their minds at once. He names this ability “Integrative Thinking.” Having the ability to hold two views that would seem to conflict allows these leaders to develop innovative answers to strategic questions. According to Martin, integrative thinkers look beyond the obvious, consider complex relationships, see an entire problem and refuse to accept typical options. Martin theorizes that individuals can improve their integrative thinking skills through “habit of thought.” The theory is good, because like most things the more you practice the better you become. In his book Outliers, Malcom Gladwell states that it takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field. In other words, any amount of practice can help, but it takes years of practice to become great. As far as integrative thinking, some individuals have probably thought this way for years and have a mastery at an early point in their leadership continuum. For others like me, they may never be masters, but with practice can come improvement.

As organizations change, leadership must find ways to adapt and adjust to those changes. Many times it’s the inability of being open-minded to new ideas, beliefs, thoughts and cultures that prevent individuals from moving forward. Saner (2004) states, “Increased globalization and integration of information technology have brought about a fundamental rethinking of how to conduct business and how to lead a complex organization for continuous improvement and reinventing of the organization” (p.654). In any organization, change brings resistance, but with positive managerial and leadership skills, accepting the challenges that come with diversity such as ambiguity, complexity, resistance and confusion, will give managers the foresight to effectively and efficiently implement processes that will benefit the organization as a whole.