What you believe is the most important thing about you.
Choose your beliefs carefully, they determine your destiny.
#1. Believe you matter. “It is not a question of ‘Will I make a difference?’ Rather, it’s ‘What difference will I make?’” (The Truth about Leadership, Kouzes/Posner)
#2. Distill problems and solutions to behaviors.
- Deal with specificity. Vagaries are the enemy of successful leadership.
- Vision that doesn’t find expression in observable action is worthless.
- Define problems by the behaviors, or lack of behaviors, that cause them. A problem – defined in behavioral teams – is 50% solved.
- Define solutions in terms of behaviors. What behaviors create desired outcomes?
- Small, simple, observable behaviors exponentially exceed the value of unactionable big ideas.
#3. Strengths have corresponding weaknesses.
- Great strengths are accompanied by great frailties. You aren’t great at everything. Your teammates aren’t either. Allow and accept weaknesses.
- Self-development is the first development. There’s always room to grow.
- Compensate for weaknesses. In order to compensate for weaknesses, you must acknowledge they exist.
#4. Action trumps talk.
- Mistakes of action are better than mistakes of neglect.
- Meetings that end without action plans are wasted time. Useful information always impacts action.
- The three questions of leadership are:
- What have you done?
- What are you doing?
- What will you do tomorrow.
#5. Leading is serving, nothing more, nothing less, nothing else. Success is ultimately about the achievement of others.
#6. Get people doing what they love.
#7. Environments and relationships have trajectory. They always take us somewhere.
#8. Instability, uncertainty, resistance, and ambiguity are opportunity.
#9. Lasting impact requires persistent, unglamorous, sweaty endurance.
#10. Exponential success requires others. People, not programs, are the future.
What are the beliefs of unstoppable leadership?