Ducks in a Row: Initiative, NOT Leadership
by Miki Saxon
Leadership is all the rage, people go to classes for it, attend conferences about it, read books and blogs, discuss it and obsess about it.
Every person in the leadership industry says over and over that leadership means caring—primarily about people.
But as Bret Simmons points out in Too Busy To Care, knowing about leadership doesn’t mean you will lead when a sudden opportunity opens up—especially if it is inconvenient. I really respect Brett for being so honest, even as to whether it will change.
I recognize that I need to behave differently, and I give intellectual assent to the fact that I want to behave differently, but I honestly don’t know that I will.
There is no aspect of leadership that has value unless it goes hand-in-glove with initiative; in other words, if leadership is yin, then initiative is yang.
Here’s a suggestion for you, skip the culture of leadership and build a culture of initiative—being careful not to kill it.
The funny thing about doing this is that by focusing on initiative, on being willing to take time instead of walking by, you and your people will become stronger leaders without even trying.
(Note: I kept this post short so you will have time to read all three links.)
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/zedbee/103147140/
May 22nd, 2012 at 1:18 am
[…] because in both controlled experiments and real-world feedback the guilt prone tend to have more initiative, AKA leadership. In all the groups tested, the people who were most likely to be judged by others as the group’s […]