Leading feels like bullfighting. You don’t control the bull. You control the cape.
Don’t ignore the bull. Respond to it.
Focus energy on responses. For example, you can’t control people. Control how you respond to them.
You can’t control interruptions. Determine how long they last.
How to control the cape…
Don’t focus on what you want. Concentrate on what you do.
Learn from the past.
Glance at the future.
Concentrate on present action.
Long-term goals are good for direction, not daily practices.
Reject the seduction of results. Commit to daily rituals.
Here’s how…
Impulse moves fast. Regret lingers.
Choose useful or painful in a two-second pause.
Leadership emerges in a two-second pause.
Here’s how…
Bad is easier than good.
Success is narrow; failure is an abyss. “All happy families are alike; each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.” Tolstoy
Dysfunction is creative.
There are many ways to get leadership wrong. Lack of character is the worst.
Obnoxious leaders are often decisive and articulate. Certainty crowds out curiosity. Answers come fast. People feel rolled over.
Incompetent leaders believe progress depends on them. Their presence feels heavy.
Self-deceived leaders don’t notice others pulling back. They interpret quiet as confirmation of their brilliance.
Obnoxious leaders conclude the problem is the people.
More…
Credibility unlocks hearts.
Shadow work builds credibility quietly.
Character develops slowly.
Competence means you’re able.
Caring says you serve the interests of others.
Leaders who skip backstage work borrow credibility they haven’t earned. The debt comes due at the worst time. People shut them out.
Practices that supercharge credibility…
