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'In a Nutshell' - new ideas to keep you aware and informed
Real Leadership - by Dean Williams
This book distinguishes between what Williams calls 'real' and 'counterfeit' leadership. Real Leadership gets people to face reality, be responsible for their predicament and deal with their toughest challenges. In contrast, Williams suggests that any leadership that lets people side-step the sometimes harsh truth of reality is irresponsible.
So real leadership gets people to confront the reality of what is actually happening. This then enables them to address and appropriately change values, habits, practices and priorities to deal with the threat or indeed the opportunity that people are facing.
Traditional vs Real Leadership
Williams argues that more traditional definitions of leadership, such as 'showing the way' and 'getting people to follow' are not sufficient in an age of such immense complexity. Instead he offers a paradigm that moves away from the dynamic of leader-follower-goal and towards the dynamic of leadership-group- reality, where the leader faces multiple adaptive challenges. This entails assessing and being honest about actual primary threats, accommodating new realities and taking practical advantage of emerging opportunities.
The First Step
The book suggests that the first step in exercising real leadership is to diagnose correctly the principal challenge that is really being faced. Each challenge requires an appropriate leadership approach, flexed to address the toughest aspects of the situation as well as the most practical approach to gaining from its opportunities.
The Six Challenges of Real Leadership
1 The Activist Challenge - Calling attention to a contradiction in values
2 The Development Challenge - Building the capabilities neccessary to progress
3 The Transition Challenge - Moving from one set of beliefs/values to another
4 The Creative Challenge - Doing something that has never been done before
5 The Maintenance Challenge - Sustaining what is essential in times of change
6 The Crisis Challenge - Leading in 'perilous times'
More on Real Leadership here
"You gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You must do the thing you think you cannot do"
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