Why Should Anyone Be Led By You?
Summary
TLDRThe script addresses a crisis of trust in Western capitalist societies, where people are losing faith in institutions like banks, politics, and more. It emphasizes the importance of community-building, authenticity, and significance in leadership. Followers desire leaders who are genuine, reveal their strengths and weaknesses, and make them feel valued. Leaders should also be a source of energy and excitement, inspiring their teams to higher performance. The discussion calls for leaders to reflect on their impact and authenticity in the workplace.
Takeaways
- 🌐 Trust in institutions like banks, politicians, and accountants is at an all-time low in the Western world, which poses a significant problem for societal stability.
- 🏗️ Followers desire a sense of community and belonging, which is a significant opportunity for leaders to build community within their organizations.
- 🔍 The research indicates that followers value authenticity in leadership, wanting leaders who are genuine and transparent about their strengths and weaknesses.
- 🤝 Followers are drawn to leaders who can reveal their unique differences and are comfortable with their imperfections, which paradoxically makes them more relatable and attractive.
- 🌟 Authentic leaders are those who understand their unique qualities and express them skillfully, avoiding the impersonation of idealized figures.
- 💡 The script emphasizes the importance of leaders being a source of significance, making followers feel valued and part of a larger purpose.
- 🚀 Exceptional performance is linked to leaders who can inspire and energize their teams, creating an exciting and uplifting work environment.
- 🌱 The concept of 'buzz' in a workplace is often attributed to effective leadership that communicates passion, energy, and a sense of purpose.
- 🤔 The script challenges leaders to reflect on how they are perceived by their followers when they enter a room—whether as a source of excitement or dread.
- 🔑 The ultimate judgment of a leader's authenticity, energy, and excitement lies with the followers, not the leader themselves.
Q & A
What is the main issue discussed in the script related to trust?
-The main issue discussed is the all-time low trust indices in the Western world due to capitalism, affecting trust in various professions such as lawyers, accountants, politicians, and banks, which can lead to crises if faith in political and economic institutions is lost.
What does the research suggest followers want in an organization?
-Followers want to belong to a community and be part of something meaningful within the organizations they work for.
How does the concept of 'community builder' relate to leadership?
-Leaders in organizations can become community builders by fostering a sense of belonging and community among their followers, which is seen as an opportunity in the face of declining informal institutions of civil society.
Why is authenticity important for leaders according to the script?
-Authenticity is important because followers want to be led by people they can trust and believe in, who are comfortable revealing their strengths and weaknesses, rather than impersonating someone else.
What is the significance of leaders being a source of significance to their followers?
-Leaders being a source of significance means they make their followers feel valued and appreciated for their contributions, which can lead to exceptional performance and a stronger connection to the organization's goals.
What is the role of a leader in creating a sense of excitement and energy in the workplace?
-A leader's role is to inspire and lift their followers to higher levels of performance by communicating a sense of excitement, passion, and energy, often through their own investment and devotion to the tasks at hand.
Why is it important for leaders to be authentic and take their 'real self' to work?
-It is important for leaders to be authentic because followers can discern inauthenticity, and it is crucial for leaders to be genuine to maintain trust and credibility within the workplace.
What does the script suggest about the perception of leaders by their followers?
-The script suggests that the perception of leaders by their followers is critical, as it determines whether the leader is seen as a source of excitement and authenticity or as a source of discomfort and disengagement.
How can leaders use their unique differences to excite others?
-Leaders can use their unique differences as a source to excite others by skillfully expressing their distinctiveness and investing passion or energy into their work, which can inspire and motivate their followers.
What is the 'case framework' mentioned in the script, and how can it help leaders?
-The 'case framework' is a method of reflection and development for leaders to think about how they are perceived by their followers and to ensure they are sources of energy, authenticity, and excitement in their roles.
What are the difficult questions leaders should ask themselves according to the script?
-Leaders should ask themselves whether they are a source of energy to their team, if they are authentic in their roles, and if their followers find them exciting and genuine.
Outlines
🌐 Trust Crisis and the Need for Community Building
The paragraph discusses a widespread decline in trust in Western societies due to capitalism and the recession. It highlights the lack of trust in professionals like lawyers, accountants, politicians, and banks. The speaker emphasizes the importance of research on what followers want, which includes a sense of community and belonging. The text references 'Bowling Alone' by Robert Putnam, which discusses the decline of social structures and its negative impact on society. Organizations are seen as opportunities for leaders to build communities, but the challenge lies in defining what it means to be a community builder in various sectors. The paragraph also touches on the desire for authenticity in leadership, where followers want leaders who are genuine and transparent about their strengths and weaknesses.
🚀 Significance and Energy in Leadership
This paragraph focuses on the importance of leaders providing a sense of significance to their followers, making them feel valued and connected to the organization's goals. It uses the example of President Kennedy's interaction with a NASA cleaner to illustrate the concept. The speaker contrasts negative experiences, such as a hotel receptionist's lack of assistance, with positive ones, like a private bank's attentive reception, to emphasize the impact of leadership on follower's perception. The paragraph also stresses the need for leaders to be sources of energy and excitement, creating an inspiring work environment that elevates performance. The speaker suggests that this excitement often comes from a leader's passion and devotion to their tasks rather than an overblown charismatic personality. The paragraph concludes by posing questions to leaders about their authenticity and their ability to energize their teams.
🤔 The Authenticity and Excitement Quotient
The final paragraph delves into the concept of authenticity and excitement as perceived by followers. It raises the question of whether leaders are seen as energizing and genuine by their teams. The speaker suggests that followers are the ultimate judges of a leader's authenticity and ability to inspire. The 'case framework' mentioned is presented as a tool for leaders to reflect on their impact and consider how they are perceived when they return to their teams. The paragraph challenges leaders to consider whether they are adding value and positivity to their team's environment and whether they are being their true selves at work, rather than role-playing or waiting until the weekend to be human.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Trust
💡Community
💡Authenticity
💡Significance
💡Excitement
💡Leadership
💡Crisis
💡Followership
💡Legitimacy
💡Workshop
💡Charisma
Highlights
In the Western world, trust in institutions like banks, politicians, and lawyers is at an all-time low due to factors such as the recession.
Research indicates that followers desire a sense of community and belonging in their organizations.
The concept of community building is identified as a key role for leaders in various sectors.
Authenticity in leadership is highly valued, with followers preferring leaders who are genuine and transparent.
Followers appreciate leaders who can reveal their strengths and weaknesses, enhancing their human appeal.
360 assessments can be a rich source for leaders to understand how they are perceived by their followers.
The importance of leaders expressing their individuality and personality is emphasized.
Leaders are encouraged to embrace their imperfections as part of their authentic leadership.
Followers seek significance and a sense that their contributions are valued by their leaders.
The story of President Kennedy and a NASA cleaner illustrates the power of making individuals feel significant.
The importance of leaders being a source of energy and excitement in the workplace is discussed.
Creating a 'buzz' in the workplace can inspire and lift performance levels among followers.
Leaders are advised to reflect on how their followers perceive their return to the team after absence.
The 'case framework' is introduced as a method for leaders to think about their impact on followers.
Leaders are challenged to consider whether they bring energy to their team and if they are authentic in their roles.
The ultimate judgment of a leader's authenticity and excitement is left to the followers.
Transcripts
see Rob we've got this issue that in the
Western world thats everywhere touched
by capitalism trust indices there are an
all-time low
made worse by the recession you know we
don't trust our lawyers we don't trust
our accountants because they shred
documents we don't trust our politicians
we increasingly don't trust our banks
and this is a real problem because if we
lose faith in the legitimacy of our
political and economic institutions we
really really will have a crisis so I
think this research that we've been
doing on what the followers want is very
relevant I mean and so on
and a sage numbers of followers what
they want in a huge variety of context
you know in pharma companies and
professional services companies and
banks and universities and hospitals and
so on and they say a bewildering variety
of things but but the good news is it
looks like it's beginning to cohere
rather clearly and the first thing they
say they want this community they want
to belong to something which I suppose
fits the literature produced in America
you know epitomized by Bowling Alone
part in the putnams book which gets its
title from bowling has never been as
popular in America as it is now
the bowling leagues have collapsed and
those informal institutions of civil
society in decline which he thinks is
bad news of course for smart
organizations it's it's an opportunity
because leaders in those organizations
can become community builders and I
think a really tough thing of course is
to say what does it mean to be a
community builder as a leader in your
organization whether you're in a bank or
a hospital or a university or a school
so hopefully in this workshop people
will get a real chance to think about
that question I think not surprisingly
what we've also discovered is that
people go to work and want to have a
sense of authenticity they want to be
led by people that they can believe in
led by people that they feel they can
trust led by people that they feel
operating in they're into
as well as as their own and that they
feel there's a shortage of this
authentic sense of individuals and
organizations so what we seem to
discover when we talk to followers is
they want people who are comfortable
revealing some of their differences that
they have which are strengths and which
can excite others and they're also
looking for individuals that up to a
point reasonably comfortable with some
of their shortcomings some of their
weaknesses and some of their
fallibilities sometimes these things
make people look even more human and
attractive paradoxically and clearly
when individuals go through 360
assessments this is often a really rich
source of getting to know how to others
see how to followers collie see you and
what what have you got that you can use
that is authentically yours and
absolutely clearly what people don't
want when they go to work is to see
someone impersonating Jack Welsh or the
boss or whoever it is is that you know
the latest hero in the organization they
want to be led by someone who expresses
some personality and is able to
demonstrate differences which will
excite others and and are authentically
theirs and clearly the best leaders are
those who who get some sense of what
they've got and then show it skillfully
they know themselves and they and they
show themselves well with others I think
that's clearly a big theme I'm often
reminded of Epicurus is remark is asked
what are your assumptions and he replies
real men I think he means women as well
spending on the round earth breathing
out breathing in and out all the powers
of nature real people doing stuff and of
course real people have weaknesses and
strengths and differences and foibles
and and I think that the problem is when
we seek to try to seek perfection you
know we get measured on all the
competencies and try and score 10 out of
10 on all of them and the reality is I
want to be led by a person you know not
the perfect being so clearly we want to
see individuals in you know as they are
but clearly there's also scope for all
of us to sort of Paul
those differences which are positive and
and and expressed them skillfully it's
also interesting I think what came out
of the research is that how much
followers wanted significance I wanted a
sense of significance a sense that their
leader appreciated their contribution to
the whole I remember when we wrote that
little article followership it's
personal too we tell the story of the
late President Kennedy visiting NASA and
he sees a man sweeping the floor and he
says hi I'm President Kennedy you what
are you doing and the guy replies I'm
putting around on the moon I have no
idea if the story is true or not by the
way but if it's true someone had done a
great leadership job with that guy
they've taken a lowest level participant
and connected them to the loftiest
ambitions of the organization since we
wrote that by the way I've got
interested in in reception staff and
because they're often aren't they an
organization's window onto the market
and I'll tell you two contrasting
experiences one is in a hotel where I've
arrived without my phone charger so I
got and reception so I'm awfully sorry
to trouble you but have you got Sony
Ericsson chod no well I saw slink away
and you know I'm shocked and so on well
guess what I'll never stay in that hotel
again
I'll never stay in that hotel chain
again by the way so they've lost a good
customer no contrast it with a rather
glamorous private bank I've been working
with recently and it's been quite a lot
of their time in their head office in
Switzerland and I arrived at their
rather grand head office and it's got
marble horn and so on and I'm greeted in
a rather formal swiss-german way good
morning professor Jones he knows my name
I have a copy of your itinerary let me
take you to your first meeting well
makes me feel like a million bucks
now what bank are private banks in what
business of private banks in the
business of making people feel special
so actually I think the idea of giving
people a sense of significance is one of
the ways in which you can produce
exceptional performance I think there's
a problem
Northern Europeans often are not very
good at this they're a bit mean with
significance you know I think you and I
Rob know too many people whose partners
say to them you never say you love me
anymore and they reply you were informed
20 years ago there's any change I'll
email you well what I think our research
shows is that leaders need to be sources
of significance and hopefully in this
workshop people will really get a chance
to ask that question am i source of
significance to my followers and the
last big theme from our interviews was
they need to be a source of energy and
an excitement you know people need to go
to work and feel that they go to a place
which is inspiring and they're going to
be lifted to higher levels of
performance and you know I think that
you've got to work haven't you somewhere
where there's a buzz you know and the
buzz is typically created by you know
the really good leaders what does the
buzz feel like that sort of excitement
feel like I think it often fills and
we've found in our interviews that it
it's sort of communicating a sense of of
edge and energy and and passion it isn't
always pleasant you know sometimes it
feels a little edgy and uncomfortable
but clearly that sort of communication
of a sense of excitement lifting people
inspiring people is is that the root of
you know the the great leaders that
we've seen and it's clearly a big theme
in all of those that we've interviewed
asking them you know what do they want
from their from their leaders so you
know fundamental question for all those
we've worked with you know when they
leave our programs or our training
events is you know to think when they go
back to their teams and the door opens
and their face comes through the door
how do their followers see them you know
do they do they do they celebrate that
this person's back this is an exciting
person or did they think oh my God he's
back she's back you know that we thought
the course was two weeks long it was
only a week you know it's back already
misery guts is back I think that sort of
sense of excitement is it's clearly
important and it often comes from simple
things like the sort of passion or
energy or devotion almost that people
invest in the task which they have it
isn't necessarily this sort of crazy
overblown
charismatic personality that sometimes
excessively celebrated in the in the
business literature so I think what we
found is always you know the good
leaders know where their differences
their unique differences our
distinctiveness and use that as a source
to excite others whatever it is and you
know let's stop using this big word
charisma maybe so that that leaves us
with followers wanting community yeah
authenticity significance excitement
case and over the course of the next
couple of days they've got a chance to
develop their own leadership case yeah
have you made it but it does leave them
with a couple of difficult questions are
you a source of energy to your team are
you authentic do you take your real self
to work I think you and I know too many
people who roleplay their way through
the week and try and rediscover their
humanity at that weekend well won't work
yeah I'm going to spend most of your
adult waking life at work it has to be a
place where you can be authentic and
then the final difficult question which
this workshop should help with this who
decides and of course the sad thing is
not you if you're followers who decide
whether you're exciting and authentic so
hopefully this will really help and the
case framework is a good way of thinking
about it
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