Want to learn the ideas in The Leadership Gap better than ever? Read the world’s #1 book summary of The Leadership Gap by Lolly Daskal here.
Read a brief 1-Page Summary or watch video summaries curated by our expert team. Note: this book guide is not affiliated with or endorsed by the publisher or author, and we always encourage you to purchase and read the full book.
Video Summaries of The Leadership Gap
We’ve scoured the Internet for the very best videos on The Leadership Gap, from high-quality videos summaries to interviews or commentary by Lolly Daskal.
1-Page Summary of The Leadership Gap
“Leadership Archetypes” and “Leadership Gaps”
All leaders face situations that require them to change their strategies. However, they often do not want to change and keep doing what they have been doing in the past. When a leader does not realize his shortcomings, he or she cannot be successful. A good leader acknowledges those shortcomings and is able to leverage them for success.
Leaders have their own styles and each style has a positive and negative side. No leader is the same, but most people lean towards a single type of leadership. Identifying these gaps helps leaders to fix them as they explore aspects of themselves that they might not want to acknowledge or accept.
Leaders who are mediocre and those who are great differ by facing the hard facts about their behavior. Mediocre leaders don’t want to face the truth, but great ones do. All people have the potential to be a leader, but many hide from the truth of what they really need to improve on. This creates a leadership gap that will only grow with time if you’re not honest with yourself about it. However, if you take ownership of your leadership gap instead of running from it or ignoring it, then you can turn your weakness into a strength.
Leadership is a complicated topic. There are seven different types of leaders, and each type has its strengths and weaknesses.
1. “The Rebel” and “the Imposter”
Rebels are bold and confident. They’re willing to upend the status quo in order to achieve a greater good. In 1975, Frances Hesselbein was hired by Girl Scouts of America to help revive their organization, which had been declining. She knew that she would be successful if she made sure that her actions were questioning everything about how the Girls Scouts helped girls achieve their goals. She pushed for greater racial and socioeconomic diversity, modernized the Girl Scout’s handbook, and revamped the organizational structure. Successful rebels change things quickly but calmly in order to unite people behind them. Rebels’ confidence allows them to lead others without hesitation or fear of failure; they know what they can do and don’t doubt themselves when it comes time for action. However, true confidence doesn’t exist in a vacuum; it results from rebels’ knowledge of their capabilities—and self-doubt can undermine this confidence (which is why some rebels feel like frauds). Self-doubt creates leadership gaps because leaders who lack confidence will second guess themselves before acting on an idea or decision—this leads other people around them not to follow through with plans either because they sense weakness or uncertainty from those above them who should be strong examples of success in whatever endeavors are being undertaken at any given moment.
Some leaders doubt their right to lead. They seek perfection, become people pleasers and self-sabotage. To close this leadership gap, we should focus on our own accomplishments instead of other people’s; stop expecting perfection and cultivate the support of others who believe in us. Great rebel leaders like Elon Musk (of Tesla Motors) and Gloria Steinem are able to acknowledge their strengths and weaknesses, work hard at improving themselves, accept their imperfections without letting them get in the way of what they want to do with their lives, believe in what they’re doing even when things look bad for them personally or professionally, adapt willingly when circumstances change around them – all these actions help such leaders be confident about taking charge under pressure.
