A world of mini-me’s
Mini me's are redundant
The leadership team of the nonprofit I lead just had lunch at our house. It’s an eclectic group of individuals who range from a driven extrovert to a quiet introvert. After everyone left, I said to my wife, “The Smith’s (not their real name) sure are quiet, aren’t they.” Then I went on to say, “They would be more effective if they were like me.” We gave each other that knowing look and cracked up.
If we aren’t careful, we might believe the most effective people are people with our qualities.
Great leaders have diverse strength-sets. The following list comes from http://www.mypersonality.info/personality-types/famous-people/.
- Abraham Lincoln – Engineer
- Theodore Roosevelt – Originator
- John F. Kennedy – Dreamer
- Thomas Jefferson – Strategist
The accuracy of the list is not the point. The diversity is. Great leaders aren’t punched out with cookie cutters.
I’m thankful for the leadership team I work with. They correct me, compliment me, challenge me, enrich me, teach me, and more. Without them, I would fail.
Here is the danger. Those with strong personalities may pressure children, spouse, co-workers, employees, or colleagues into becoming mini-me’s. After all, our qualities work!
Your greatest strength is most likely your weakness.
Pressuring others to be like us rejects them and impoverishes us.
If you’re a visionary, call the detail person on your team who drives you crazy and thank them for protecting you from yourself! If you’re an organizer, call the creative person on your team and say, “thanks for keeping me fresh.” If you’re son is your opposite, hug and honor him.
Leaders reach higher by leveraging diverse strength sets.
You’ll reach higher if you take a walk or pick up the phone and extend honor to someone who’s expanding your potential.
Leadership Freak
Dan Rockwell
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Since I have subscribed to your blog, this is so far my most favorite! Keep up the good work! One of my good friends always said variety is the spice of life!
-Jose
Hey Jose,
I remember you. I wish you the best in your business and hope your plans to expand work out. I dropped into you blog… keep it up man.
Dan
“If we aren’t careful, we might believe the most effective people are people with our qualities.” That was really an eye popper. Thank you for talking to me. Looks like you wrote this post with me in mind.
Dyaji,
Glad it’s useful. It applies to me too.
Regards,
Dan
Absolutely true, and I’ve been a believer for years. However, I suffer from overcompensation disorder: in order to save myself from myself (the one that gets excited by the new idea and runs ahead without looking), I keep hiring immovable objects, lead weights and tethers.
KZ, hmmmmm, sounds like a serious problem to me… ;-). Thanks for contributing… all the best, Dan