These are my 20 Rules of Leadership. After extensive research… Oh, no, wait a minute. It is true field research. And including drilling. About an inch long inside the scalp.
These are my Rules. My pool is about 100. I have looked at them time and time again and finally chose 20 that (1) share with my clients on regular basis, one way or another, and (2) have become a bit of my ‘universals’.
I am not talking from a position of moral authority, or as a Super Practitioner of them. I am doing very well with some. I am terrible at others. But I believe deeply in The List. Here they are. For leaders, followers and in between.
My 20 RULES OF LEADERSHIP
- Earn credibility all the time. Stocks deplete easily.
- Act as if you did not have anything to loose.
- Be unreasonable in your demands, the reasonable ones are taken.
- Detect bullshit and become proficient at detecting it. Then, protect yourself and others.
- Exercise provocation with panache and respect. Aim at being appreciated, not hated, for it.
- Don’t be a provocateur, rebel, maverick, contrarian or challenger for the sake of it. Have a good ‘because’ ready.
- Infect others, don’t do it alone.
- Be restless, be uncomfortable (and foolish and hungry and the rest…). They’re the only things that confirm that you are alive.
- Watch you ego. Most of the time is not your friend.
- Never settle for one possibility only.
- Don’t waste your time managing the ‘inevitable’. There is a lot of ‘possible’ waiting for a leader. Look for what would not happen without you.
- Seek unpredictable answers. The predictable ones are already seeking you.
- Don’t be against anything. Don’t create enemies. The exceptions are mediocrity and dishonesty.
- Write down your little bit of daily legacy in a secret little book.
- There is only one test: what will you tell the children? (that you do, you did, you didn’t do).
- More important that what you say is what people hear when you are saying it.
- Practice ‘I don’t know’, possibly followed by ‘And I don’t think you know either, so let’s figure it out’.
- Make things happen first, then clean up the process for the next time. In that order.
- The unexamined leadership, like the unexamined life, is not worth living.
- Play as many roles as you want, but never a victim or an enemy. Both being ‘victim’ or ‘enemy’, requires your full consent.
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