Leadership and Me

Jena Guenther and I seriously planning for the 2013 Conference. She was the inspiration for and was the first cochair of the organization  of which I am the current cochair.

A dialogue on different perspectives on the same reality is healthy if there is to be a synthesis of the many disciplines.  The Real Leadership Lessons of Steve Jobs (14 lessons), in April 2012 issue of Harvard Business Review by Walter Isaacson lists Steve Jobs' take on what it takes to be a leader. 

Steve Jobs' asserts that a good leader will...

1) Focus,

 2) Simplify, 

3) Take Responsibility End-to-End,

 4) When Behind, Leapfrog,

 5) Put Products Before Profits,

 6) Don't Be a Slave to Focus Groups,

 7) Bend Reality,

 8) Impute,

 9) Push for Perfection,

 10) Tolerate Only "A" Players,

 11) Engage Face-to-Face, 

12) Know Both the Big Picture and Details,

 13) Combine the Humanities with the Sciences,

 14) Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish.

Steve Jobs was determined to become very rich while also getting a breakthrough innovation out to the world. This list clearly shows that he loved what he was doing, knowing it was good for the world.

I would have preferred to not be the leader of an organization which is about what the world needs most- or for any other reason. Yet, I find myself in that position and doing a good job at it as well - for the moment anyway.

Learning Steve Jobs take on leadership, occasioned a reflection for me on what I believe it takes to be a good leader. This is my take on effective leadership today:

1). Facilitates the creation of, holds, and protects the consensus,

2) Operates as if a Higher Self is in charge of the community's growth,

3) Inspires participation, celebrating effort and accomplishment,

4) Takes responsibility  in consideration of the whole picture and what is needed really needed, and

5) Focuses on prioritizing goals into a timeline, monitoring and supporting implementation.

I have also learned quickly that in order to be sustained as a leader, it is necessary to say "Yes" to the unique contribution of others, expecting that each of us is intending our highest good, and that we all are regularly falling short of our own performance expectations.  This I would suggest is the most important leadership lesson of all.

If that isn't the final lesson, then the final lesson is that laughter released in abundance is what keeps us all going strong - that with some hearty singing and entering the round dance of life!

What's your take on good leadership today?

Sign post at Songaia Community in Bothell, WA