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1-Page Summary of Mastering Leadership
The Burdens and Possibilities of Leadership
Leadership is an important factor in any organization. Most leaders do not achieve the expectations of their followers, but it’s possible to be a great leader and make a difference in people’s lives. This can be achieved by fulfilling four universal promises:
In order to inspire employees, executives must explain the purpose of their company. They have to make sure that they’re providing adequate compensation for people’s hard work. In addition, they should link individual and team goals with corporate goals in order to get everyone working toward a common vision.
Managers should be disciplined and always focus on their goals, as well as give employees the resources they need to achieve those goals. Managers should resist distractions by staying focused on achieving objectives. They must identify repeatable processes that will help them achieve results. Managers must stay flexible so they can continue improving with each new project or task at hand.
Leaders must commit to continuous development. They should improve their skills while holding themselves and others accountable.
Leaders should listen to their employees, share information with them and tell the truth. They should also reveal their vulnerabilities as a way of gaining trust from others. Leaders who are more credible are respected by their employees and have better relationships with them. In addition, leaders shouldn’t make decisions that will damage long-term goals in order to meet revenue targets quickly. Instead they should encourage risk-taking because it’s important for people to grow professionally even when they fail at first.
Mind Over Matter
Having a limited mindset limits your competency. Talent can’t overcome negative psychology. You have the ability to evolve and change how you think, but it takes effort and systems thinking is required because no one person can know everything about an organization or solve all its problems on their own. A team of leaders should be able to design effective strategies that would exceed the intelligence of any single member of that team.
The Stages of Adult Development
This leadership development model is based on the adult stages of development identified by Harvard professor Robert Kegan. The stages are egocentric, reactive and creative, integral and unitive.
As people mature, they gain wisdom and experience. Their effectiveness increases as they climb the ladder of adult consciousness. A leader’s mind-set determines their competence. People can’t advance to the next stage without shattering their previous sense of self—that is why it’s so hard for most adults to change or lead effectively.
Everyone develops in stages. Each stage changes the person, and they gain new abilities to handle their environment better. As leaders develop, they change as well, which affects the whole organization. Leaders need to let go of their egos when trying to make changes within an organization because ego is one reason why most organizational change efforts fail.
The ____Egocentric Stage
At age eight, you are self-centered and only care about your needs. You don’t think of others. At around age eighteen, you start to change and become more mature by acknowledging that other people exist besides yourself. If you’re not able to do this, then it’s likely that you will always be self-centered and try to control the behaviors of others without considering their feelings or desires.
The Reactive Stage
As you shift from being self-centered, you try to fit in with societal norms and abide by laws. You behave to gain acceptance. You acquire the skills and experience to hold a job, advance, attract a spouse and build a home. One of these defines you in your mind (for example: getting results or having superior analytic ability). Therefore, one of these three is your strength and the reason for your success. You’ll defend it vigorously.
