On Leading with Greatness

What are the practical advantages of getting out of your office?

Peripatetic is just a fancy word for walking around. It comes from the name given to the adherents of Aristotle who, according to tradition, followed him as he strolled through Athens and philosophized. Peripateticism is not just for followers, though. It is also a great way to lead and manage people. As I wrote recently, great leaders open their eyes and ears to learn about and from their people. Wandering among and interacting with your people with such openness is a simple and rewarding way build mutual understanding. Additionally, although it is not the main focus here, the health benefits of walking are well established.

How can you master the discipline of leadership?

Perhaps you have heard it said that leaders are just born or that leaders are forged in moment of crisis. There is a bit of truth in those beliefs but the vast majority of leaders and every single truly great leader became who they are by developing an understanding of leadership. (Note that I am not referring to bosses here.) Therefore leadership is a discipline, and like all disciplines you must study, practice, evaluate, and revise your views of leadership if you are to be great.

How can working alongside others be a bad thing?

Have you ever noticed how you go through life believing some things as near absolutes without much thought? Maybe such beliefs reflect your personal values or are based on some cultural assumptions. We all do it. Nonetheless, perhaps something about one belief bothers you a bit, like there may be a dark side to it. One of my strongest and most persistent beliefs is in the positive power of cooperation.

What does it mean to be a wide-open leader?

To be sure, opening wide is a key to leadership, but great leaders know there are plenty of other things they should open wide well before they open their mouth.

What constitutes your personal brand?

People often ask me why I write what I write and do what I do. Well, after a lifetime of watching good people get hurt by bad bosses, I am deeply concerned with preventing others from being burned. I am no longer in a position to directly protect people who are being hurt, but I can help them build the resilience they need to stand up, withstand, and still become their best. I can also help those with some pretense to power discover strategies to act as benevolently as possible … or at least to act benignly. That is my personal brand.

How can you use radical transparency to manufacture authority?

Responsibility without authority is a mess. If you are a boss, never ever put anyone in that situation. Never. If you are stuck with a crappy boss who subjects you to such abuse, consider embracing the mess and turning your greatest disadvantage into an advantage by owning it. Radical transparency — openly sharing your vulnerability — can be a powerful tool to win friends and allies and self-generate authority while keeping your integrity intact.

Can people gain intelligence, or do we all just stay the same level we were born at?Your circumstances do not dictate your mindset. Your choices do.

If you are fixed in place by a fixed mindset, you can choose to grow with a growth mindset. If you are scarred by a scarcity mindset, you can choose dance with an abundance mindset. Your mindset is one of the few things entirely within your control, so take control. All you need to start is change your mind.

What happens when you have reached your upper limit, your capacity, your outer edge? How do great leaders prevent their people’s brains from pixelating?

It is high time I come clean. Why am I always ragging on bosses in my essays? It’s not that I hate every boss. After all, I was a boss, and while I am sure a few of my people would argue I was just another bad boss (and sometimes I was), I always strived to improve and had evidence that I did so. As I became more experienced as a supervisor, I tried to assure that I was a whole lot better at leading than when I started, but I also knew I could be much better still.

And that’s the thing. Bosses can all be better. If you are a boss, don’t despair. You can be a good boss. You can be a leader. You can be a great leader! The first step is to admit you have a problem, and the problem is you are a boss. All too often the last stop before hell is a corner office.

I would further argue that being a boss is largely incompatible with being a great leader, with the caveat that there are some bosses who are great leaders.

Like maybe three.

I kid. It’s eight.

But it can be done.

My old school was tiny. Classes could be just ten people sitting around a table, and I will forever be grateful to my parents, federal financial aid, the student loan system (at 9% interest!), and a steady stretch of year-round employment for the opportunity to attend such a college.