Thursday, July 17, 2014

Leadership: Dynamic vs. predictable

For me, leadership is one of the most complex and most exciting things to talk about and think about. I find leadership to be the eternal engine that keeps everything moving. Similarly, leadership appears to be the linchpin factor when it comes to organizations and structures that succeed and those that don't.

We all know the leader who is dynamic.

We all know the leader who is innovative and creative.

We all know the leader who bucks the system and pushes others beyond their borders.

We look up to this leader and respect their ability to take what is and turn it into what can be.

This type of leader is the type of leader we read about and hear about...

This type of leader plays big and wins big.

This type of leader also plays big and loses big.

Knowing that, I recently read an article titled, 'The Boring Trait Google Looks for in its Leaders.'

Naturally the title of the article attracted my interest, but it wasn't until I started reading the article that I really became interested.

The premise of the article is that leaders who are 'predictable' are those who create the most effective and most productive work environments.

This seemed to fly in the face of everything I thought about leadership.

How could someone who was predictable be a good leader?

When did 'boring' and 'dull' become leadership qualities that we would hope to obtain?

I then started to think about it and the more I thought about it the more it made sense.

So, think about those leaders with whom you work.

Think about your own leadership capacity and leadership philosophy.

Can you imagine a world where boring and predictable leadership would be valued and would be an integral part of one of the most forward-thinking and innovative companies in the history of our world?

Kind of hard to imagine isn't it...

Just remember, those folks at Google seem to have something figured out...